China Trademarks: Anatomy of a Chinese Name

Labbrand, a leading Chinese brand consultancy, recently published an article discussing the naming work they’d done on behalf of Haribo, the German confectionery. (For those who don’t know, Haribo is the first and best manufacturer of gummi candies: all gummi candies in the world are derived from Haribo Gold-Bears, the ur-gummi.) I have been a huge fan of Haribo since I was a kid, and was interested to read how Labbrand had adapted Haribo’s brand names for China. I’m excerpting their descriptions below, interspersed with my own commentary.

The verbs in the first sentence are essential: Haribo’s Chinese brand names were not just created but also validated. Brand creation without brand protection is meaningless. As I wrote back in 2015, “If you care about your brand in China, it’s not enough just to register your English-language brand. You also need to select a Chinese name and register that as a trademark in China. Otherwise, you will forfeit not only the right to use your Chinese brand name, but the ability to choose it in the first place.” See Don’t Be Like Mike: Register Trademarks In CHINESE.

I did a quick check of the Chinese Trademark Office (CTMO) database and am happy to report that the three brand names cited above are all registered already or will be soon. (Had the results been otherwise, this would have been a short blog post!)

I won’t comment on the above names, except to note that they are thoughtful combinations of literal translations and characters with positive and appropriate connotations. This is the value of hiring branding professionals. Sometimes clients will come to us with a Chinese name derived from Google Translate and ask us to opine, which always brings out my inner DeForest Kelley: I’m a lawyer, not a branding specialist. Still, you don’t need to be a brand specialist to know when a machine translation goes wrong, which is often enough.

source:https://www.chinalawblog.com/2017/11/china-trademarks-anatomy-of-a-chinese-name.html