A local restaurant named Star Hollwood in northeast China has changed its name because of a complaint by the renowned Planet Hollywood restaurant chain owned by Hollywood film stars.
Six years ito operation, the Star Hollwood, a movie theme restaurant in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, registered with the local bureau of commerce and industry in July 1997. But it did not apply for a registered trademark both in Chinese and in English, the bureau said.
Because its name was similar to the US-based restaurant, which had registered its trademark in China as early as February 1994, the Star Hollwood was accused by Planet Hollywood of infringement of its trademark rights. It asked the Chinese restaurant to changethe name, according to bureau officials.
The bureau has been trying to settle the dispute through negotiations and has not made any final decision on the case.
The Star Hollwood has changed its name to the Star Steak King.
"Out of respect for the law, we changed the name of our own accord," said Chen Zhiqiang, the lawyer for the Chinese restaurant.
But he claimed that the Chinese company still hoped to regain the trademark because no restaurant under the Planet Hollywood trademark has been operational in China over the past nine years following registration in 1994.
According to article 44 of the Trademark Law of China, a registered trademark under which no operation is run for three consecutive years is subject to revocation.
Star Hollwood manager, surnamed Liu, said until recently he and his company had not known that the company's logo was similar to the registered trademark of the American restaurant, and did not deliberately try to infringe upon Planet Hollywood's rights.
Planet Hollywood, a movie themed restaurant in the United States, was founded in 1991 by Keith Barish, a well-known film producer, and Robert Earl, a leading businessman in the catering sector.
Thanks to investment by a group of Hollywood film stars like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Planet Hollywood restaurant is in popularity not only in the United States, but also worldwide. So far it has opened chain restaurants in a number of major international cities.
(People's Daily July 31, 2003)
