Burberry appeals China trademark restriction

Burberry, Britain's largest luxury goods maker, is appealing a decision by Chinese regulators to restrict the company's trademark on its hallmark chequered pattern for leather goods.

The regulators' decision would not take effect and there would be no change to Burberry's use of its trademark for leather or other products before a decision on the appeal, the company said yesterday.

Companies from Apple to Danone have fought legal battles over brand rights in China. Apple paid US$60 million last year to settle a two-year-old dispute regarding the iPad trademark in the country with Proview International, which had applied to Chinese customs to block domestic shipments of the United States company's tablets.

"In China, it's been very difficult traditionally for major companies to protect their brand," said Corbett Wall, a Shanghai-based managing partner of +CW Associates, a retail consultancy. "The whole idea of intellectual property is still at its beginning stages."

Burberry was "confident that our appeal will be successful", the company said.

The China Trade Mark Office restriction was related to its "Check" trademark, which related only to leather goods, it said.

Calls to the information office of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce were not answered.