Recently, Zhang’s trademark dispute administrative litigation against the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board on the type 32 “The Saint Sophia Cathedral” pictorial serial trademarks was concluded at Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court. Lawyer Zhang Hong and lawyer Xu Jin of Beijing Janlea Law Firm attend the litigation as the attorneys of AB InBev Harbin Brewery Co., Ltd. (AB InBev). The serial cases were the concluded and the litigation claim of AB InBev, represented by our firm was supported by the Court.
After the trial, the Court ruled as follows: the trademarks in dispute were all pictorial trademarks that used the picture of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin. According to the regulation in article 10 paragraph 1 item 8 of the Trademark Law, symbols that are harmful to the socialist moral codes or have other negative influences shall not be used as trademarks. When judging if related symbols produce negative influences, one should consider whether or not the symbols or their components could possibly cause negative and adverse impact on the politics, economy, cultures, religions, minority groups and other public interests and orders of our country. However, the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin was the biggest Orthodox church in the far east region, possessing historical richness and close connection with the existence of orthodoxy. If it was used as a trademark to be registered, the religious sentiments of the religious populations would be harmed and negative social impact would be incurred. Therefore, it was appropriated to repeal the trademark in dispute.
It is not commonly seen among the actual reviews of trademarks that a registered trademark is repealed because it contains religious site, causing possible harm to the religious sentiments of the religious populations and further negative impact on the society. In this case, our lawyers not only protected the lawful rights of our client, but also demonstrated our attention for public interests including religious cultures, producing positive social impact.
