WIPO to Accept Chinese & Japanese Characters as International Trademarks
According to a report on cn.nikkei.com dated 5 March 2015, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is changing its trademark registration system to accept Chinese and Japanese characters as international trademarks.
WIPO's director general Mr. Francis Gurry told the Nikkei Newspaper in an interview that with Asian economies playing an increasingly prominent role in the world, a system that allows registration of international trademarks in Latin script only falls short of providing adequate global protection for Asian and other non-western brands. In light of this, WIPO will be working on the revision of existing registration system for international trademarks over the next five years.
For the acceptance of Chinese characters as international trademarks, Mr. Gurry said it may take place this autumn at the earliest.
Currently, trademarks using non-Latin alphabets are not acceptable for registration as international trademarks, though local languages may be used in trademarks for registration on national level.
