just days after donald trump secured the white house, the real-estate mogul scored a legal victory in a decadelong trademark dispute over the right to use his name in china for certain services. the businessman-turned-politician<u+2019>s application to register his trump trademark to provide real-estate-agent services in commercial and residential properties in china, was provisionally approved sunday after a yearslong legal fight. it wasn<u+2019>t clear why mr. trump prevailed, and more battles may come. of the 53 registered trademarks under the trump name in china<u+2014>in categories ranging from clothing and beauty salons to pet care and golf courses<u+2014>only 21 are owned by mr. trump. the trump trademarks that the u.s. president-elect doesn<u+2019>t own, some of which were registered recently, include aquarium products, ammunition, explosives, poker cards, condoms and tennis rackets. zhou dandan, a beijing-based lawyer at unitalen law office, which represented mr. trump in this trademark issue and in other such cases since 2008, said mr. trump has become a household name, even in china, which could change the outcome in any potential trademark disputes in the future. a spokesman for the trump organization declined to comment. in 2006, mr. trump applied to register his trump trademark in a slate of categories in china, including to provide real-estate-agent<u+00a0>services<u+00a0>in commercial and residential properties. in 2009, the trademark office of china<u+2019>s<u+00a0>state administration for industry and commerce, or saic, rejected that part of his application, saying the trademark was already spoken for: two weeks before mr. trump<u+2019>s application,<u+00a0>a<u+00a0>person named dong wei had applied for it. it isn<u+2019>t uncommon for people to squat on overseas brands<u+2019> trademarks or patents in china on the expectation the companies will settle rather than get tangled in lengthy litigation.<u+00a0>in 2012, for example, apple inc. paid $60 million to buy the ipad trademark in china from a chinese company. according to a document from the beijing high people<u+2019>s court, mr. trump was allowed to own trademarks to do business in<u+00a0>a category that includes<u+00a0>a variety of services in commercial and residential properties, including installment and repair of air conditioners, heating systems and escalators as well indoor furnishing and repair.<u+00a0>however, dong wei, according to the court ruling, owned the right to use the trump trademark to provide <u+201c>construction-information<u+201d> services,<u+00a0>what lawyers described as essentially services by real-estate agents. mr. trump requested a re-examination, and in february 2014 a review board of the saic ruled that mr. trump<u+2019>s application was too similar to dong wei<u+2019>s, which could lead to confusion for consumers. the board rejected mr. trump<u+2019>s appeal that dong wei <u+201c>infringed<u+00a0>on<u+00a0>his right<u+00a0>of<u+00a0>name.<u+201d> dong wei couldn<u+2019>t be reached for comment. then mr. trump filed a lawsuit against saic at beijing first intermediate people<u+2019>s court, which upheld<u+00a0>the ruling. several rounds later, during which mr. trump argued that the person named dong wei was maliciously registering an existing and influential trademark, the beijing people<u+2019>s high court dismissed mr. trump<u+2019>s appeal in<u+00a0>a final judgment on may 18, 2015,<u+00a0>a month before mr. trump announced his presidential run . ms. zhou, who also has represented mr. trump in other trademark disputes<u+00a0>that didn<u+2019>t end up in court, said the ruling was no surprise as there was already an application for the trademark registered<u+2014>one she described as malicious squatting. <u+201c>this ruling is fair,<u+201d> said si weijiang, a shanghai-based lawyer<u+00a0>with no connection to the case. back in 2006, mr. si said, <u+201c>mr. trump was so obscure in china that probably nobody knew his name.<u+201d> but mr. trump didn<u+2019>t give up there. according to an saic database, after his legal setback, mr. trump refiled a new application for the trademark and dong wei<u+2019>s claim was invalidated. that is the application that won provisional approval<u+00a0>on sunday. if no one objects during a 90-day public-notice period,<u+00a0>the decision will be permanent. it wasn<u+2019>t clear whether mr. trump or the trump organization intends to use any of the trademarks to which it has secured rights. the saic didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. <u+2014>pei li
donald trump scores legal win in china trademark dispute  - wsj
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