Cosmetic company appeals toothpaste trademark ruling

With the dispute under review by industry and commerce authorities, Guangzhou Shiqi Cosmetics Co Ltd has filed an appeal in the Beijing High People's Court to overturn a lower court ruling that it violated the trademark of Smith Kline & French Laboratories.

Last August, Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Shiqi Cosmetics should cease using its ZMShike trademark and pay 200,000 yuan ($31,680) in compensation to SK&F, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, whose China division is headquartered in Tianjin.

Shiqi Cosmetics filed for the ZMShike trademark in 2004, which SK&F challenged in a lawsuit last year alleging the name shares the same Chinese characters and pronunciation as SK&F.