Recently, Bridgestone Corporation (hereinafter refers to as Bridgestone),one of the world's largest tire and rubber company, challenged before the Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court the decision by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce(SAIC) and asked for rejection of the registration of the trademark ROCKSTONE.
In November 2007, Bridgestone requested the TRAB to revoke the registration of the trademark ROCKSTONE and was denied on January 2010. Before the court, Bridgestone alleged that the mark ROCKSTONE is similar to the mark BRIDGESTONE in appearance and visual effects, and such similarity is most likely to cause confusion among consumers. Bridgestone also claimed that BRIDGESTONE enjoyed high reputation in the public. Further, the ROCKSTONE trademark was used deliberately to the extent that it was much similar to the mark BRIDGESTONE, causing more possibility of confusion.
The court has not yet made a ruling.
