Bridgestone Successfully Protects Trademark Rights in China

Bridgestone (China) Investment Co., Ltd. has successfully filed a trademark infringement complaint to the Guilin Industrial & Commercial Administration Bureau. The complaint, which was wholly upheld, was against Guilin Car Wings Car Accessory Co., Ltd for closely resembling the appearance of “car wing” outlets run by Bridgestone Corporation’s Chinese subsidiary.

On 14 June 2006, Bridgestone made a request to the bureau to have Guilin Car Wings, which opened the store in Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, change store signs and name. The following day, after the bureau confirmed the breach, the company was ordered to remove and rename its signs and to change the name of the store. On July 21, 2006, the person in charge of overseeing the incident at Bridgestone (China) Investment visited the bureau to confirm the content of the official letters stating that the signs had been taken down and that the store name had been changed from Guilin Car Wings Car Accessory Co.,Ltd. to Guilin Tianyi Car Accessory Co.,Ltd.