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Chinese regulators put the kibosh on gag condom name

A Chinese trademark application for a condom brand has been turned down because the name of the product sounded too much like China's state-run television company, state press said yesterday.

An entrepreneur from Fujian Province caused a stir early last month when he applied to name his condom brand Zhongyang yitao, which sounds like "China Central Television (CCTV) channel one" but also means "central condom number one."

The play on words has not been taken well by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce which oversees trademark registrations, the Southeast Express newspaper reported.

"The Zhongyang yitao name already has a certain recognition by the population as `CCTV channel number one,' which is a widely influential television station," the paper quoted a statement by the administration as saying. "If this is used as a commercial trademark it will have a negative influence on society."

CCTV officials expressed "shock" when the application for the trademark came to light in August and threatened legal action to stop the registration.
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