During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the mascot "Bing Dwen Dwen" quickly becomes popular due to its cute image, and the related products of "Bing Dwen Dwen" also win the hearts of people and attract a lot of attention, making it hard to get one.
source: www.cnipa.gov.cn
The popularity of "Bing Dwen Dwen" causes that the demand for these relevant goods exceeds the supply, and in fact the situation shows the progress in protecting intellectual property rights from one side. According to China's Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols, as one of the Olympic symbols, the intellectual property rights of Olympic mascots belong to Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG). After the Olympics, the intellectual property will go to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
According to the provisions, any other organizations or individuals that produce and sell the fake "Bing Dwen Dwen" without authorization will be fined. In fact, the intellectual property rights of "Bing Dwen Dwen" are well protected by law, which effectively reduces the number of relevant infringements.
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The protection of intellectual property involves trademarks, patents, copyrights and other aspects. The Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) has paid attention to the all-round protection of intellectual property of the Olympic mascots from the beginning, applying for trademarks, patents and copyrights in advance to prevent infringement by others.
How to protect the intellectual property rights
Early in June and July, 2019, the BOCOG asked the Trademark Office to conduct duplication checking on the mascot names. Through duplication checking, the BOCOG can make sure that there are no similar trademarks or previously registered trademarks, so as to avoid unnecessary troubles.
On September 17, 2019, Bing Dwen Dwen was officially released, indicating that the BOCOG must have registered the trademark before that. According to the information from the Trademark Office, the BOCOG applied for the trademarks of "Bing Dwen Dwen"in 45 classes on September 16, 2019, and also applied for its three-dimensional trademarks. The acts of the BOCOG can effectively protect Bing Dwen Dwen's name and image from being registered preemptively by others.
source: wcjs.sbj.cnipa.gov.cn
Kindly Reminder
According to the Trademark Law in China, the products and services of the trademark are divided into 45 classes, and the registered trademarks are only protected in the classes they belong to. It is necessary to register trademarks in all classes in advance to protect the rights and interests and avoid preemptive trademark registration.
Actually, some people began to apply for the trademark of "Bing Dwen Dwen" after its launch.
source: wcjs.sbj.cnipa.gov.cn
Fortunately, the BOCOG had the awareness of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, and applied for the trademarks in advance. Therefore, other applications are invalid.
In addition to the "Bing Dwen Dwen" trademark, the BOCOG also applied for the trademark of "Shuey Rhon Rhon" and the trademarks of their English names. What’s more, the BOCOG also applied for the design patents and registered the copyrights of "Bing Dwen Dwen". On January 15, 2020, Bing Dwen Dwen was officially protected by law as an Olympic symbol.
source: www.gov.cn
A series of operations by the BOCOG have achieved the full protection of intellectual property rights of "Bing Dwen Dwen", and these operations truly help the BOCOG guard against infringement by others, picking up the weapon of law to protect their rights.
To protect intellectual property rights, trademark registration is essential! HACOS suggests that enterprises should improve the awareness of IPR protection, learn how to avoid infringement like preemptive trademark registration, and register trademarks in advance.
Other articles about trademarks that will help you.
Preemptive Trademark Registration Is Dangerous！How to Solve It?
Trademarks Worth Millions of Dollars? Registration Is Important!
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