The fight between two clothiers over who gets to put a crocodile logo on their shirts is raging in China, and teeth are being bared on both sides.
French sportswear maker Lacoste vowed yesterday to pursue its longstanding feud with rival Crocodile International over the logo despite its loss of a copyright lawsuit in Shanghai.
PHOTO: AP
Lacoste, maker of the status-symbol polo shirts with crocodile appliques, has clashed with Crocodile International in many markets, but rarely as harshly as in China -- a reflection of the growing importance of this market and the troubles caused by rampant piracy of brand-name products.
Lacoste's crocodile logo faces right; Crocodile's faces left. Otherwise, they look similar enough that in most markets authorities have ruled they could cause undue confusion for consumers.
Last week, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court ordered La Chemise Lacoste to pay US$1 and publicly apologize to Singapore-based Crocodile International for trying to register its competitor's trademark as its own.
Lacoste family heir and spokesman Philippe Lacoste said yesterday that his company had no intention of using Crocodile International's logo when it photocopied it and presented it to Chinese trademark officials seven years ago.
"It was purely a defensive move," Lacoste said.
Crocodile International said the decision reinforced its right to the crocodile trademark.
"The Crocodile trademark is our intellectual property in China, and we will continue to exercise our right to protect and enhance our brand," Ang Boon-tian, managing director of Crocodile International, said in a statement.
Privately held Lacoste contends that the Shanghai court decision has no impact on its own complaints against Crocodile for use of the crocodile logo.
Crocodile International, founded in 1947, began selling its products in China in 1993.
Lacoste first put a crocodile on its shirts when it was established in France in 1933. It registered the logo in China in 1980 and in 1984 began sales there of its "alligator shirt," an icon of preppy style in its early-1980s heyday.
Having beaten Crocodile International to one of Asia's biggest markets, Lacoste has also sought to register variations of the original Lacoste logo as well as the Chinese-language characters for crocodile, eyu.
But dozens of copycat brands are sold in China. In a market loaded with crocodile logos, Lacoste fears the value of its brand image will be lost.
"It's worse here than anywhere else," said Paul Ranjard, a lawyer representing Lacoste in China.
"China, everybody knows, is the biggest potential market in the world," Ranjard said. "Lacoste has no intention of sharing its trademark in China."
The battle over claims to the crocodile began in the 1970s when Lacoste began distributing its products in Asia, where Crocodile International had already registered its own, similar logo.
And Lacoste has a separate agreement with Crocodile Garments, a Hong Kong company, allowing both companies to coexist in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
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