This is the story of a legal ping pong from China, where the
company Zhongshan City Wantian Electric Appliance Co., Ltd.
(hereinafter referred to as Wantian) filed for the registration of
the mark “AOSAILO” for use on water
heater related product in 2012, and the same was approved for
registration in 2013. However, A. O. Smith Water Heater Co., Ltd.
(Smith) having the registered marks
‘AOSmith’ and ‘A. O.
Smith’ for similar goods filed for a cancellation of
the trademark AOSAILO claiming that it is similar
to their registered trademark.
The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB), China
dismissed the claims of Smith and held that in terms of overall
appearance of the marks the two marks were not similar and thus
would not cause confusion amongst the public.
