Editorials

Infamous brands

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-15 07:51

Do not blame us for distrusting domestic "famous brands", for here is one more reason.

In addition to the once-popular practice of buying such a label from a certain institution, they can now even concoct "litigation" to get a certain trademark certified as "famous". Again, it does not matter if anybody ever heard about that specific brand - when a court says it is "famous", it is.

We cannot but have grudging respect for our compatriots' corner-cutting genius, although we do feel ashamed of their highly creative brainpower always being used in wrong places.

Since local governments have to certify "famous" trademarks, they have carved out short-cuts to becoming famous. Of the only two ways of being officially acknowledged as "famous", court rulings cost less time and money than certification by industry and commerce administration authorities, so they swarm to the courts.

Infamous brands

And thanks to some judges' greed, some courts have been easy to be bought out. We now have to wait for the outcome of the ongoing investigations of justices in Liaoning province to see exactly how dirty things have gotten.

Previously, we were only astonished by corporate entities fabricating non-existent "violators" to create "lawsuits" so as to get a verdict against the unreal "damage" infringed upon a "famous brand". But we dared not suspect that justices had a role in the antics, which now appears to be the sad truth.

We do not want to add fuel to the public's disbelief in our judiciary's claim of loyalty to justice and are willing to refrain from making negative comments until the truth is ultimately out. But let us be frank - once the suspected collusion does prove to exist, the damage to its credibility would be beyond repair. Especially if such fraudulence is not limited to Liaoning.

And it further erodes popular confidence in the already notorious practice of naming "famous brands". Given that there are too many nameless "famous brands" in this country, few of us actually care who says what is "famous". That various authorities, and fake authorities, continue to be enthusiastic about concocting "famous brands" is but a race for dirty money. Only that it gets even more disgraceful with the courts getting involved.

But this will definitely end up being detrimental to the all-out efforts to promote the made-in-China label. Official seals of recognition on inferior or shoddy products can only denigrate the collective image of Chinese goods.

That "famous brands" are more or less a meaningless, if not deceptive, label of self-pity is at this point a mere family secret among ourselves. If such a pattern is allowed to persist, our best hope will be that others never see through it.

(China Daily 12/15/2009 page8)