Two Stories, One Lesson: Trademarks Are the "Safety Belt" You Must Fasten Before Going Global
Story 1: A Cookie Blocked by an Invisible Barrier
Today our firm welcomed an old acquaintance, Mr. Sun, a Chinese expatriate based in Italy.
An early Chinese migrant to Italy, Mr. Sun has run a curtain business there for decades. He explained that replacing curtains in Italy costs hundreds to thousands of euros each time. Most of his curtain fabrics are sourced from Yiwu and shipped to Italy. His business thrives on intimate knowledge of supply chains and meticulous cost control.
Yet this time, he brought no curtains—instead, what he called his child’s "homework project".
Mr. Sun’s child was born and raised in Italy and speaks limited Chinese. The young person runs a food company and intends to export its goods to China, so Mr. Sun came with a full range of product samples to seek our professional advice.
One biscuit caught my eye, boasting attractive packaging and great taste. Its wrapper was printed with €0.99, a common European pricing format placing the euro symbol before the numeral. I told Mr. Sun this item would be an ideal pick for Chinese importers.
He replied outright: “It’s viable, but we have to redesign all packaging.”
“Because its trademark has already been registered by someone else in China.”
A delicious, well-packaged cookie priced competitively was barred from entry—not due to poor quality or unreasonable pricing, but an invisible barrier: trademark squatting.
Story 2: A Phone Call That Redirected a Factory’s Entire Development
Mr. Sun’s experience reminded me of another client from Thailand.
He visited our company once with a seemingly straightforward question:
“Mr. Lin, our new factory has just been completed. What products should we manufacture to sell in China?”
He was fully equipped for production but had not settled on a business direction.
Instead of giving a direct answer, I cited an example:“Dutch-branded goods manufactured in Vietnam sell extremely well across China.” The reason? The Dutch brand enjoys widespread popularity. Consumers buy the brand name, not the country of origin.
He grasped the logic instantly. He picked up his phone right away and called his colleagues back in Thailand, speaking urgently:“Run trademark searches for all the names I’ve brainstormed immediately.” Production, packaging design and sales channels all took a back seat. Trademark clearance came first.
If a brand name is already registered by third parties in your target market, even the finest factory and best-made products can be locked out. Should you manage to launch them anyway, you will likely be forced to withdraw.
Core Takeaway: Fasten Your Intellectual Property Safety Belt Prior to Overseas Expansion
These two tales, set in Italy and Thailand respectively, feature different industries and products yet convey the identical truth:The very first step in cross-border trade is neither production nor sales, but intellectual property protection. Mr. Sun’s story illustrates the territorial nature of trademarks, a hurdle that must be tackled in advance. Intellectual property rights are geographically limited: a trademark registered in Italy receives no automatic legal protection within China. Without pre-emptive trademark filing in target markets, legitimate brand owners may end up being sued and penalized by trademark squatters.
The Thai client’s experience offers a proactive mindset: confirm trademark availability before finalizing your business roadmap. This is far more than risk mitigation for potential disputes; it constitutes a core strategic decision to ensure smooth market access. Registering core trademarks overseas well before launching products is the most effective way to avoid costly intellectual property conflicts down the line.
Lessons Learned
Going global is a long journey requiring thorough preparation, and intellectual property serves as the indispensable safety belt you need to buckle up beforehand.
Nowadays, brand overseas expansion is widely discussed—ranging from product export and brand globalization to technology outreach. One critical detail is frequently overlooked: secure trademark registration and intellectual property protection in target markets before venturing abroad. Otherwise, halfway through your voyage, you will discover others have claimed your brand name for themselves.
Mr. Sun’s biscuits had to undergo packaging revisions, while the Thai entrepreneur altered his factory’s development plans with a single phone call. Both examples prove that trademark registration is not an optional extra for global expansion, but a mandatory requirement.
Supplementary Reading: The Territorial Principle of Intellectual Property Protection
Intellectual property protection adheres to territoriality: trademarks registered in China are not automatically protected overseas. In recent years, Chinese enterprises have faced a sharp rise in IP disputes abroad. In 2023, 1,173 new intellectual property lawsuits involving Chinese firms were filed in the United States, marking a year-on-year increase of 19.0%. The average compensation awarded in patent lawsuits reached USD 23.72 million, while trademark litigation yielded average damages of USD 1.1798 million. Intellectual property protection has become an unavoidable threshold for all companies expanding internationally.
It is recommended that enterprises planning overseas markets complete the layout and registration of core trademarks in advance. The Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks and individual national trademark applications are the two most prevalent approaches for global trademark deployment.
粤公网安备 44050702000243号
Administrator
No comments yet for this content