Culling the copycats

Recent high-profile cases have delivered a jolt to the intellectual property and trademark protection debate. Collin Galloway explores a volatile environment

It seems you can’t open a newspaper these days without a high-profile case over an intellectual property or trademark violation in China springing out from the pages. Just these past few months reads like a who’s who of A-list industry and celebrity. There’s Apple v Proview of course: Goliath, the world’s biggest company, versus a financially puny David armed not with a slingshot, but the iPad’s registered trademark.

Then there’s Michael Jordan taking the court against a sportswear company over his name, his famous number 23, and even the names of his children. The cheek! Even Britney Spears weighed into the legal mire over her own first name and its English and Chinese-registered equivalent. She lost. Hermès’ battle for its name in China has raged since 1997, but recently made headlines – none of them good for Hermès.

So are there more cases, or just more high-profile ones? Should we pity these poor celebs and monstrous multinationals for this scurrilous theft of property or identity – or berate them for their ignorance of local law and lack of due diligence?