Companies need to know their markets

The recent trademark disputes of international brands, such as Apple and Hermes, to some extent, indicate that 2012 will be a significant year for the development of intellectual property rights in China.

However, they also show that transnational brands need to learn some quick lessons since Chinese corporations have learnt how to play the business games by international rules.

Take the French luxury brand Hermes for example. According to media reports, a court in Beijing has ruled that it does not own the registered trademark in Chinese, which was obtained by a local clothing company in Guangdong province in 1995. The French brand may face an awkward situation when it tries to expand in China in the future. Actually, it was in 2009 that Hermes first requested the trademark appeal board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce in China repeal the Chinese-language trademark.