Protection of Unregistered Trade Marks in Hong Kong -
What brand owners need to know
Successfully opposing a trade mark application on the basis of
pre-existing unregistered trade mark rights is notoriously
difficult in Hong Kong, but the VIVO case* shows how it can be
done.
We were able to help our client, Garmin Switzerland GMBH
(“Garmin”), establish both goodwill and reputation in
Garmin's family of VIVO-formative marks, and the Trade Marks
Registry found that use of the VIVO mark will likely cause
confusion.
Background
BBK Electronics (“BBK”), a Chinese company
known in China for its VIVO branded smartphones and portable
electronic devices, applied to register the VIVO mark in Class 9 in
Hong Kong.
