The U.S. trademark registry has been overwhelmed by applications from Chinese companies, many of them with bogus products.
United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, VA. by Alan Kotok via Flickr
A flood of new trademark applications coming from China -- many of them believed to be fraudulent -- is swamping the U.S. system, making it harder for homegrown companies to register their products and defend themselves against intellectual property theft.
The surge in filings has arisen in part due to government financial incentives offered to Chinese companies in recent years to seek trademark registrations in countries like the U.S. and U.K., as China seeks to bolster its reputation for innovation.
But American attorneys say the incentives -- which are often of greater value than the cost of filing for a trademark in the U.S. -- provide an opportunity for Chinese interests to make a quick profit from bogus applications, all the while clogging up the process for companies filing for genuine trademarks.
On the left, evidence of trademark use submitted to the USPTO, pending approval. On the right, the original look of the same products available online. Source: szket via USPTO
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