Trade Mark Squatting

A Portuguese SME had never had any actual business in China, nor had they yet interacted directly with any Chinese supplier, distributor or client. Furthermore, their brand was also little known outside of Portugal. However, as China was amongst the SME’s mid-term target markets, they realised that losing their trade mark in China would seriously hinder future market access. As the SME was suspicious about a random law firm in China reaching out, they decided to consult with legal professionals in their home country first. The legal expert suggested that the Chinese law firm was simply fishing for clients, but informed the SME that the issue was real – a Chinese entity had indeed initiated a trade mark registration process to obtain rights to the SME’s brand name.