Most modern business operations consider their name and trademark valuable assets that must be protected at all costs.

Yet privately owned trademarks using the names of well-known scenic sites in Sichuan are set for auction without opposition.

A local auction house plans to put 11 trademarks based on famed tourist sites up for sale, all of them registered in categories a far distance from travel and leisure - for furniture, meat, soft drinks, candy, beer and mineral water.

They all belong to businessman Zhou Min.

'Legitimate'

"I filed the applications when I did business in Shenzhen. The trademarks all have legitimate documents and certifications," said Zhou.

"They were mostly registered between 2003 and 2004," he added. "No one had registered them at the time."

The names are all popular tourist spots in the province including Shunan Zhuhai - Sea of Bamboo - and Xiling Xueshan, or Western Snow Mountain.

Some observers thought tourist authorities would take action to protect rights to the names - but they were calm about the prospect.

"It is hard for us to register the brand in every field, so we only concentrate on industries that are closely connected with our tourist area," said Xiling Xueshan authorities. "The brand on auction is for beer, which will not have an impact on us."

Besides, "the words are same, but logos are different", they said. "Our logo now has good protection."

At risk

Authorities at Shunan Zhuhai and other tourist attractions share similar opinions.

But, Gao Yun, manager of a Sichuan intellectual property agency, said tourist zones are at risk if they want to expand their name for use in the four categories already registered.

It is not the first rush to capitalize on the names of famed Sichuan tourist spots.

In 2006, 93 brands were registered by a Chengdu company, and the trademark for Jiu Zhaigou, a nationally known tourist area, was then valued at 1.2 million yuan ($185,000).

"The key reason for the rush to registration is businesses in the tourist zones lack brand consciousness," said lawyer Zhang Min.

"Consumer rights might be violated," he said. "Take Emei Mountain tea for instance - consumers might buy the wrong product if the trademark was registered by a non-local company."

Zhang suggested tourist sites should be far-sighted and file a wider range of applications on their trademarks.

"Authorities running scenic areas that are infringed upon should also fight against rushed registrations to help regulate the field," he noted.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/08/2011 page17)