Finding a name for your company is hard enough, but if you’re planning on doing business in Asia, you also need to select a Chinese name and register that as a trademark in China. It’s not enough to be fluent in Chinese – you need an expert in Chinese-language branding, and a law firm that understands the complexities of Chinese trademark law.
Because China has a limited number of syllables, it is easy to come up with homophones to a foreign company’s Chinese name – especially when that Chinese name is a transliteration. This makes it even more difficult to protect your Chinese name. Chinese trademark examiners might reject a mark that has all of the same characters as yours except one, but if the mark has all different characters and they just have similar pronunciations, the mark is much more likely to be approved.
Want to know how to solve this problem? Read this informative and detailed post at the China Law Blog.