Bright Dairy & Food Co., Ltd (hereafter referred to as the applicant) filed an dispute against Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Company Limited’s (hereafter to referred to as the respondent) trademark “YOU SUAN in Chinese” under reg. No. 1743196 used on “milk; yoghurt; milk products” in class 29 and YOU SUAN in Chinese” under reg. No. 1758485 used on “ice cream” in class 30 on Sep 19, 2002 and requested the cancellation of the disputed trademark.

The applicant’s main arguments are: the disputed trademark, which is used on “milk; yoghurt; milk products” in class 29 and “ice cream” in class 30, directly expresses the quality characteristic of goods and thus becomes a well-recognized commodity name for the public.

The respondent’s rebuttal arguments are as follows: Firstly, since the disputed trademark indicates neither the quality of goods including “milk; yoghurt; milk products” nor main characteristics of the aforesaid goods, registration of the disputed trademark does not stand in violation of Trademark Law of the P.R.C; Secondly, the disputed trademark is a self-created trademark by the respondent and thus is in possession of certain distinctiveness; Thirdly, as the respondent’s registering the disputed trademark is completely in conformity with laws and thus does not constitute infringement to others’ interests, the appeal for cancelling the disputed trademark is in malice.

The TRAB holds that the disputed trademark is made up of “YOU SUAN in Chinese”, which is not a regular combination in Chinese vocabulary. There is no good arguments based on which the conclusion that consumers with ordinary observation are liable to regard it as descriptive words directly indicating the quality characteristic of goods can be drawn when the disputed trademark is used on “milk; yoghurt; milk products”. With regards to argument for well-recognized commodity, evidences submitted by the applicant can not verify that “YOU SUAN in Chinese” has become a well-recognized commodity for the public.

With respect to the above 2 appeals for adjudication of dispute, the TRAB rendered The Adjudication of Dispute (2009) under Trademark Review No. 00602 and 0060 on Feb 2, 2009: in accordance with Article 43 of Trademark Law of the P.R.C, the disputed trademark will be maintained.