Recently, Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court of Zhejiang Province made the final decision in favor of Hangzhou Wahaha Group that the mark WAHAHA registered overseas should belong to Wahaha Group. This means that the trademark WAHAHA, whether it is registered in China or outside China, belongs to Hangzhou Wahaha Group.
It has been a long-term dispute between the Danone and Wahaha with regard to the ownership of the mark. Danone insisted that the "Trademark Assignment Agreement" signed between the two sides in 1996 was still valid, and requested Wahaha to fulfill the agreement and transfer the trademark to the joint venture company. However, Wahaha responded that the Chinese Trademark Office did not approve the assignment and the two sides signed Agreement for the use of the mark to terminate the Assignemnt agreement. Therefore there were no obligations to assign the mark to Danone.
Wahaha later submitted an application to Hangzhou Arbitration Commission, requesting for confirmation that the "Trademark Assignment Agreement" had been terminated. At the end of 2007, Hangzhou Arbitration Commission made a ruling that the "Trademark Assignment Agreement" should be terminated in 1999. Danone then asked for review of the ruling but was rejected.
Danone also claimed that even though Chinese Trademark Office did not approve the assignment, the agreement made it an obligation that WAHAHA mark registered outside China should also be assigned. For this purpose, Danone filed another request before the Hangzhou Arbitration Commission, but again it was rejected because the agreement already terminated in 1999.
