After-School Training Institution: Exclusive Rights of Trademark should be Protected

 university

Nowadays, it’s more frequent that some after-school training institutions are “borrowing” the names of well-known universities that have high reputation and rich resources in China. These institutions make false publicity by illegally using similar names, fabricating that there’s cooperation underway or deliberately misleading so as to enlarge enrollment and make more profits. By doing so, some establish training centers; others attract students by exam training classes or non-certificate education.

Models of such scams are as follows:

Using the same names as those famous universities as trademarks;

Introducing training courses in the name of famous universities without any authorization;

Falsely claiming that the teachers are from famous universities;

Renting on the campus for teaching in order to mislead customers that they have connection with the universities.

Such illegal actions are very difficult to identify or prohibit. Universities don’t have law enforcement right so that their efforts are constrained. Issuing official announcement, reporting for closing down and judicial litigation are three major ways to handle this issue.

Guan Yuying, researcher from the Institute of Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,  said that if the abbreviation of a prestigious school has been registered as a trademark, its exclusive right should be protected by the Trademark Law; if any institution fraudulently uses the abbreviation that is identified as the unique one of a certain prestigious university though it has not been registered as a trademark, it violates the Unfair Competition Law. Unauthorized use of a famous company or social organization’s name (including abbreviations) that may cause misleading or confusion is against the Unfair Competition Law. The infringed right owner can report to market regulation and management departments and request for investigation and punishment, or he/she can file a lawsuit and ask for indemnification according to the Trademark Law and Unfair Competition Law.

Zhu Hu, associate professor from the School of Law of Renmin University of China, said that according to Article 18 Unfair Competition Law, such behaviors should be subject to administrative penalties including stopping illegal activities, confiscating illegal products, fines or even abolishing the licence. The universities whose names are fraudulently should initiate proceedings according to the Tort Law and request for their losses. 

Guan Yuying suggested that famous universities should safeguard their reputation through trademark registration which can prevent squatting or abusing their own brands, and on the other hand can help obtain legal protection in case of infringement.

June 10, 2019

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Photo from: 6199pic.com