The established Chinese beancurd brand Wangzhihe vowed to "bring the lawsuit with a German company to the end," said its general manager on Thursday.
OKAI, a department store of Germany, was accused of illegally registering the Wangzhihe brand in Germany. The case was heard by a court in Munich on Wednesday, but the result was unknown yet.
Wangzhihe, started in 1678 and featured Beijing flavored beancurd, had its brand registered by OKAI on November 21 2005. Wangzhihe noticed that in July 2006 when it wanted to expand market and register the brand in Germany. It filed a lawsuit against OKAI in the court in Munich in January 2007.
According to Wang Hongqing, intellectual property consultant of Wangzhihe, OKAI argued that the logo of Wangzhihe was "a common portrait of Chinese ancient soldier" and the registration is lawful.
"OKAI has been selling the products by Wangzhihe for quite some time and it is impossible that it couldn't recognize the logo," Wang said, adding that the logo was designed by a Chinese professor who had transferred the copyright to Wangzhihe in the form of contract.
"The brand has been handed down through generations," said Wang Jiahuai, general manager of the Wangzhihe Food Group, "we would allow nobody to steal it away."
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)
