Apple OS "Snow Leopard" Faces Trademark Suit in China
IT168, 7/02/12
Jiangsu Snow Leopard Household Chemical (http://www.xuebao.com.cn) recently filed suit against Apple in the Shanghai Pudong District People's Court, alleging that the name of version 10.6 of the Mac OS X, Snow Leopard, infringes upon its trademark. Snow Leopard Household Chemical is demanding that Apple cease its infringing behavior, issue a public apology, and pay RMB 500,000 in damages. The court has accepted the case and will hear arguments in open court on July 10.
Jiangsu Snow Leopard Household Chemical claims that it has registered 42 trademarks relating to "Xuebao" - the Chinese word for "snow leopard" - in categories including electronic products. On the other hand, the director of a Jiangsu-based law office notes that the company had applied for trademarks on the Chinese characters for "snow leopard" and the Hanyu Pinyin Romanization "xuebao," while Apple's official Chinese-language website only displays the English words "Snow Leopard," making it difficult to determine whether or not Apple is in fact in violation of the trademark.
Keywords: hardware law software trademark Apple OS Shanghai Pudong District People's Court litigation IPR infringement
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