Branding Names: from Air Jordan to Linsanity and Trump Toilets

2016 was a winning year for Western trademarks in China. It produced an unprecedented number of decisions – two, to be exact – in which China won praise for protecting foreign trademarks, affirming intellectual property rights, and developing a friendlier environment for international businesses. The only loser was trademark law itself, as the two decisions […]

Branding Linguistics: What Coca-Cola and Chinese Bakeries have in Common

The emergence of Chinese brands has become a global phenomenon. Not only are there exports to and local marketing within the Chinese diaspora and later generations, but Western businesses are also merging with and acquiring Chinese businesses and Western trademarks are engaging in brand extension or cross-branding with Chinese mark owners. In doing so, unexpected […]