The Beijing High Court has ruled in favour of the Cupertino-based company, saying that a Chinese company should not have been allowed to register the “face book” trademark back
in 2014.
The Zhongshan Pearl River Drinks Factory in southern Guangdong province that had registered
the brand name “face book,” produces food products like potato chips and canned vegetables.
“Under the Chinese law, a multinational with a globally-recognised brand must prove that
its trademark is also well known within China,” according to media reports.
Along with other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook is currently blocked to
nearly 700 million internet users in China.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been trying to break the ice with China for years.
He met Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to the US last year.
The Facebook founder has also met China’s chief censor officer at his home in San
Francisco and reportedly had a meeting with the head of the ruling Communist party’s
propaganda apparatus.
Last week, Apple lost an appeal in China for its iPhone trademark when a lower court
ruled that a Chinese company Xintong Tiandi can use the “iPhone” mark on its leather goods.
Apple Statement
Apple is disappointed the Beijing Higher People’s Court chose to allow Xintong to use the ‘iPhone’ mark for leather goods when we have prevailed in several other cases against Xintong
