Asia Focus
Asia is the largest and the most populated continent and being comprised of more than 40 countries is a fascinating mixture of cultures, religions and languages. It is also home to some of the leading world economies; Japan, China and South Korea are all major players on the global market. A good indication of the economic growth in these specific countries is seen in the growth in trademark applications. In 2004 there were over 400,000 Chinese trademark applications compared to 375,000 in 2002 and over 140,000 in Japan (2004) compared to 120,000 (2002). Needless to say that alongside the growth in trademark applications there has also been a corresponding rise in trademark infringements.
Key to protecting your marks in the Asian continent is an understanding of the complexities of the various languages in use. For example, languages such as Japanese do not use an alphabet but many thousands of characters and each of which has both a meaning and a pronunciation. Sometimes characters used in trademarks are used only for their pronunciation and the meaning is irrelevant. This can make it very difficult for those without language skills to spot potentially infringing activity.
TMDS’ language specialists have in-depth knowledge of these languages, their idiosyncrasies, local variations and terminology and are able to spot a potential infringement at all levels.
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