Misunderstandings of charities about trademarks

The first day of September 2017 marked the first anniversary of the enactment of the Charity Law. As of the end of August 2017, civil affairs authorities at various levels have recognized and registered 2,109 charities and completed filing for 37 charitable trusts involving trusted assets worth approximately RMB840 million (US$126.5 million). The ability of charities to motivate people to give improves remarkably, as evidenced by the increase of total donations from less than RMB10 billion in 2006 to more than RMB50 billion in each of the past five years. The philanthropy sector is being reshaped by the swiftly growing number of private foundations, and the significant rise in percentage of private donations.

For a giver, obviously the most efficient way to select a suitable one from among the growing number of diversified charitable organizations and projects is to rate them by brand. Organizations and projects with good brand image are more capable of attracting donations, while those with poor brand image are hardly able to get any attention or support. Despite the simple logic, charities seem to be less aware of the importance of brands and trademarks compared with enterprises and other for-profit organizations. There are even misunderstandings about brands and trademarks, some of which are summarized below.

Wang Yadong is a partner and Lu Lei is a senior attorney at Rui Bai Law Firm