beyondbrics

It could soon become a badge of honour for successful foreign brands in China.

Following in the footsteps of Apple (and basketball star Michael Jordan), Hermès – purveyor of fine silk scarves – has become the latest company to find itself in a tussle over a trademark.

Over the weekend, local media reported that Paris-listed Hermès had lost its case against a clothing company relating to its Chinese language brand name, as the Shanghai Daily explains:

The company [Hermès] said Guangdong Province-based menswear maker, Dafeng Garment Factory, registered a trademark, 爱玛仕, similar to the Chinese name of Hermès, 爱马仕, which could mislead Chinese buyers. The pinyin for the two Chinese names has the same spelling: Ai Ma Shi.

Crudely translated, the Hermès version of Ai Ma Shi means “officials who love horses”- a throwback to the company’s equine origins. Dafeng’s version, meanwhile, features the rare character 玛, which is part of the word ‘agate’ – a type of crystal – and is often used for translating the names Mary and Emma into Chinese.

Despite registering its brand in China in 1977, Hermès did not, said the Shanghai Daily, register its Chinese name at the same time.

Another trademark dispute involving Apple’s use of the name ‘iPad’ in China has yet to reach a conclusion, while Michael Jordan, the former US basketball star, is taking legal action against a mainland company called Qiaodan, which he says is using his name without consent.

The verdict in the Hermès case seems unlikely to dent the company’s popularity with Chinese luxury buyers. And it can also draw on its relatively new China-only brand, Shang Xia, which the company now deems successful enough to open a boutique store in Paris. As beyondbrics reported earlier last month, the French capital is keen on making Chinese visitors as welcome as possible.

And the company might even take heart from one line in the ruling, which suggested that Hermès was not yet well known enough on the mainland for it to seriously confuse shoppers. For a brand like Hermès, exclusivity still has value.

Related reading:
Hermès boosted by Asian demand, FT
Material World – the FT’s fashion blog