A common question regarding English commercial signs, such as
trademarks, personal names, or trade names, is how to protect their
Chinese equivalent. On the one hand, the holder of the English
commercial sign failed to select the Chinese equivalent for some
reasons, or failed to have it registered as a trademark in a timely
matter. On the other hand, the holder may have used the Chinese
equivalent together with the English mark in commerce, or have used
the Chinese equivalent passively. For instance, media reports use
the Chinese equivalent to refer to the English commercial sign and
its holder, the public and users also give some common Chinese
names to the English commercial sign, and third parties like
previous distributors of the holder use both the English mark and
the Chinese equivalent to refer to the holder in commercial
activities. Under these circumstances, for those third parties
registering the Chinese equivalent as a trademark without
authorization or using
