特朗普在華商標獲批“正常”

Donald Trump has basketball star Michael Jordan to thank for securing trademarks in China, legal experts in the country said on Thursday, as they played down concerns that Beijing’s decision represented a special concession to the new US president.

中國法律專家週四表示，唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)在中國申請商標註冊獲准，得感謝籃球明星邁克爾?喬丹(Michael Jordan)，他們淡化了有關北京方面的決定代表着向美國新總統作出特別讓步的擔憂。

Mr Trump now has the right to use his own name — and prevent others from using it — in categories ranging from beauty salons and spas to hotel services and restaurants. Intellectual property lawyers say both the approvals and the timing were the result of due process and reflect progress in closing a loophole that has allowed “trademark squatters” to exploit public figures’ names.

從美容院、水療中心，到酒店服務和餐廳，特朗普現在有權使用自己的名字，並阻止別人使用它。知識產權律師們表示，批准本身及其時機都是正當程序的結果，反映了在打擊讓“商標搶注者”利用公衆人物名字這個漏洞方面取得的進展。

“He was awarded the trademarks because he is already a well-known name, not because he is the US president,” said Liu Zhanlin of Yingke Law, one of China’s top IP specialists. “That’s the legacy of the Jordan case.”

“他獲得商標，因爲他已經是一個知名人物，而不是因爲他是美國總統，”中國頂尖知識產權專家之一、盈科律師事務所(Yingke Law)的劉佔林表示。“這是喬丹案的遺留影響。”

Mr Jordan spent years battling the Chinese sportswear brand “Qiaodan”, culminating in a ruling by China’s supreme court in January against “deceptive use” of public figures’ names. The Chinese system is based on a first-come, first-serve basis, creating a lucrative opportunity — until the Qiaodan ruling — for squatters to register famous international brands.

喬丹花了好幾年時間與中國運動服裝品牌“喬丹”進行鬥爭，最終導致中國最高法院在1月對“誤導”使用公衆人物名字的行爲作出不利裁決。中國的制度基於先到先得的原則，在喬丹案裁決出爐之前，這爲那些搶注馳名國際品牌的人創造了一個有利可圖的機會。

Authorities have granted preliminary approval for Mr Trump’s trademark in a number of sectors. However, his applications for “unlimited” use of his name and for trademarks in sectors such as mining and advertising, where he does not have business interests, were rejected.

當局已初步批准特朗普在多個行業的商標申請。然而，他對“無限制”使用自己名字的申請，以及在他並無商業利益的採礦和廣告等行業的商標申請，均被拒絕。

“If all of the applications had sailed through without problems, I would have said that it appeared that Trump was being given special treatment, but this just seems like business as usual to me,” said Matthew Dresden, an expert on Chinese IP at US law firm Harris Bricken.

“如果所有的申請都沒有問題地獲得通過，我會說，看上去特朗普正得到特殊待遇，但現在的結果在我看來是正常的，”美國律所哈里斯?布里肯(Harris Bricken)的中國知識產權專家馬修?德累斯頓(Matthew Dresden)表示。

News of the decision on Wednesday drew rebukes from Democrats and ethics experts, who questioned whether Beijing was seeking to curry favour with the new US president. The Trump Organization retorted that it had defended the Trump trademark in China for several years, long before Mr Trump’s candidacy made him famous in the country.

中國方面在週三作出的上述決定，招致了民主黨人士和道德專家的指責，他們質疑北京方面是否在尋求討好美國新總統。特朗普集團(Trump Organisation)反駁稱，它在中國捍衛特朗普的商標已有多年，遠遠早於特朗普的總統候選人資格使他在中國聞名。

The new regulations have resulted in victories for Chateau Lafite Rothschild, which is battling copycat wine bottlers, as well as for Mr Trump. But foreign companies remain frustrated by a dizzying array of potential translations into Chinese, as well as the need to defend across numerous categories.

除了讓特朗普獲勝外，新的法規也爲羅斯柴爾德拉菲堡酒莊(Chateau Lafite Rothschild)帶來了勝利，該酒莊正與模仿它的葡萄酒裝瓶企業打官司。但外資企業仍然感到沮喪的是，他們得提防一系列令人眼花繚亂的潛在中文譯名，還得進行跨品類的商標維權。

For instance, US television network HBO is suing a restaurant of the same name, while Dow Jones and Dow Chemical once fought over the right to the Chinese character “dao”.

例如，美國電視網HBO正在起訴一家同名的餐廳，而道瓊斯(Dow Jones)和陶氏化學(Dow Chemical)曾爲使用漢字“道”的權利產生紛爭。

Intense Chinese public interest in the US presidential campaign spurred Chinese citizens to file dozens of trademark applications using variations of Mr Trump’s name over the past year. Hundreds were also filed for variations of Ivanka Trump, his daughter, “Trump’s children” and other related trademarks.

中國公衆對美國總統競選的強烈興趣，在過去一年裏促使一些中國人使用特朗普名字的各種變體提交了數十宗商標申請。還有數百宗申請想要註冊他的女兒伊萬卡?特朗普(Ivanka Trump)、“特朗普的孩子”和其他相關商標的各種變體。

The recent Trump victories are the result of 16 applications filed by the Trump Organization last April to prevent such squatting.

特朗普最近取得的勝利是特朗普集團去年4月提交的16宗申請的結果，這些申請的目的就是防範此類搶注行爲。

The saga of Mr Trump’s claims provides a road map to his failed attempts to do business in a fast-growing but often very frustrating market.

特朗普在華註冊商標的經歷，爲他在這個快速增長但常常令人沮喪的市場做生意的失敗企圖提供了一張路線圖。

Among the latest batch of trademarks, which will be valid within 90 days if no one objects, was the trademark to “Scion”, the brand Mr Trump’s children are developing for future hotel ventures. There are currently no Trump-branded hotels or properties in China, although a group hotel executive said last autumn the company planned to develop “20 to 30 hotels” in the country.

最近這批商標（如果沒有人提出異議的話，它們將在90天內生效）包括“Scion”這個商標，特朗普的孩子們正使用這個品牌開發未來酒店項目。中國目前沒有特朗普品牌的酒店或房地產，儘管一名集團酒店高管去年秋天表示，該公司計劃在中國開發“20至30家酒店”。

The application for Scion was filed in China in April 2016, although the Trumps only announced the rebranding in October.

Scion的申請於2016年4月在中國提交，儘管特朗普家族在10月才宣佈更名。

Mr Trump has on several occasions over the past decade attempted to enter hotel or property deals. In 2010 he won the right to use the Trump name for golf clubs, buildings and malls, following a 2008 application that coincided with registering several shell companies in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen and an aborted deal with property developer Evergrande.

特朗普在過去10年裏曾多次嘗試達成酒店或房地產交易。2010年，他贏得了使用特朗普這個名字爲高爾夫俱樂部、建築物和商場冠名的權利。之前2008年的一宗申請適逢在繁榮的南方城市深圳註冊幾家殼公司，並試圖與房地產開發商恆大地產(Evergrande)做成一筆交易（但最終告吹）。

Mr Trump’s longest, most bitter battle over his trademark was clinched last year. His name was not well-known in China in 2006 when a man named Dong Wei suddenly claimed “Trump” as a trademark in the construction industry, 10 days before the Trump Organization’s own attempt. Mr Trump sued the trademark authority and lost in court.

特朗普圍繞他的商標的最漫長、最苦澀的戰鬥在去年終結。2006年他在中國並不出名時，一個名叫“董偉”的人突然申請註冊了在建築業使用的“特朗普”商標，比特朗普集團自己的申請搶先了10天。特朗普對國家工商行政管理總局商標評審委員會提起行政訴訟，但在法庭上敗訴。

But 10 years later, shortly before he won the election, he reclaimed the trademark on a technicality — Mr Dong had not renewed it when it lapsed. His registered address, an apartment in the gritty industrial city of Shenyang, has been unoccupied for several years, according to a neighbour who said he believed Mr Dong had died about three years ago.

但在10年後，就在他當選之前不久，他以一個技術性的理由（董偉在商標失效之前沒有延長）奪回這個商標。董偉的註冊地址是工業城市瀋陽的一套公寓，據一名鄰居稱，這套公寓已空置多年，此人相信董偉已在大約3年前去世。

Additional reporting by Archie Zhang

張祺(Archie Zhang)補充報道