Kweichow Moutai's latest attempt to trademark the phrase "National Banquet" has reportedly failed once again. According to local media reports, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court had rejected the company's trademark application for the phrase commonly referring to its popular liquor products.
The intellectual property agency reportedly stated that the company's submitted trademark for "Moutai Guoyan" or "Moutai for National Banquet" was too vague and may lead to misrecognition of the company's products.
The court further explained that allowing Kweichow Moutai to have exclusive usage rights to "Moutai Gouyan" would be unfair to other players. The trademark could also result in a negative impact on public interest and the industry itself.
Kweichow Moutai has been aggressively trying to trademark a number of phrases that are related directly to its branding and marketing. In 2001, the liquor company had applied to register "Goujiu Moutai," or "Moutai the National Alcohol" as its own trademark. The application was unfortunately rejected by the same intellectual property court in 2002.
The company since been reapplying for the trademark to be approved, giving various reasons why it should be considered. The partially state-owned alcohol giant submitted trademark applications for the same phrase at least nine times between 2006 and 2010. All of the applications were summarily rejected by the intellectual property court.
Apart from cementing its branding and the market persona of its products, the company also recognizes the importance of intellectual property rights. Major Chinese firms have also now started to take notice and have become aware of the significance of protecting their brands and trademarks.
In the first six months of this year, the State Intellectual Property Office reportedly received around 3.52 million trademark registration applications. This was a 67.8 percent jump when compared to the same period last year. The country's patent office had also reportedly granted more than 238,00 invention patents for the first half of this year, a 9.9 percent jump when compared to the same period last year.
Kweichow Moutai had recently been facing a lot of issues with the proliferation of counterfeit products. The company hopes to curb the spread of these fake drinks by being able to legally go after the companies that use its brand name and trademarks.
The company that supplies China's leading premium white liquor is also facing mass price speculations for its products, which have pushed prices to irrational highs. While this may look to be beneficial for the company's bottom line, it has actually resulted in a drop in sales.
Kweichow Moutai has recently partnered with retail giant Costco to curb the speculative pricing of its products. The company had made its products available at the retailer's first store in Shanghai, giving buyers the opportunity to buy its products at lower than market price.
