Decade-long QQ trademark dispute receives final verdict

Chinese automaker Chery has prevailed against China's biggest social media company Tencent, after a decade-long wrangle over the ownership of the trademark QQ for use in vehicles.

The Beijing Higher People's Court gave a final verdict in mid-September, which upheld a ruling by the Trademark Appeal Board and ordered the Shenzhen-based Internet giant to withdraw its registration of the trademark for vehicles.

For years Tencent has been widely known for its online instant messaging tool QQ. At the same time, sales of Chery's QQ model surpassed the 1-million benchmark in early 2013, Chinese media reported.

The saga between the two domestic brands started in March 2003, when Chery filed a QQ trademark application for its automobiles, just a couple of months before its first batch of QQ models rolled out to market.

The name is partially because of the design of the car's taillights, which look like the English letter Q, according to the carmaker.

Tencent challenged the filing and claimed that it had QQ as a registered trademark for services in information transfer and computer end-user communication since 2001. The company said after years of promotion, the number of its QQ users surpassed 200 million in 2003, which helped it earn the well-known trademark status.

Later, Chery gained the trademark from its affiliated company Wuhu Chery Technology Co Ltd, which had a successful filing for automobiles.

Tencent was determined to secure the trademark in the auto world and its efforts appeared to pay off when its filing for vehicles was granted in 2008.

However, a few years later the registration was withdrawn by the Trademark Appeal Board at the request of Chery.

As a result, the dotcom filed a trademark complaint against the board with the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court last year.

The attorney representing the carmaker, the third party in court, told the court that China had a strict market access system for auto production and sales. Without related industry background, a company cannot get qualifications for making autos, according to the industry policies.

"We have paid a lot for advertising our QQ model on Tencent's website", which shows the dotcom's "willing acquiescence to this situation, with knowledge", said the attorney for Chery.

Tencent said its sales reached 900 million yuan ($146.59 million) in 2003 and it tried to register its trademarks in various sectors for the purpose of defense. The company added that the move for vehicles this time was an extension of its well-known QQ trademark registration worldwide and was justified.

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