Broadcaster's only option is to obey court ruling

A citizen of Yichang city in Hubei province walks past the wall of a shopping center displaying trademarks. The second draft version of an amendment to the trademark law forbids using the title of well-known trademarks on product packages and advertisement. Ren Weihong / for China Daily

JIANGSU Broadcast Corporation has continued to use If You Are the One as the name for its popular speed-dating show, even though the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court ruled it had infringed the property rights of a Wenzhou businessman by using the name. Chinese Business View commented on Wednesday:

A statement issued by Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation said the verdict was "truly unexpected", as it had purchased a license to use the name from Huayi Brother Media Corp who produced the movie If You Are the One.

But according to the verdict, the broadcaster has to stop using the name even if it plans to appeal against the judgment. Therefore, there is no reason for it to continue to use the name.

With the advent of the knowledge economy, trademarks can add tremendous commercial value to any product, and thus trademarks are registered in the name of celebrities or popular shows.

In this sense the If You Are the One television program may have suffered a disadvantage in this case. But according to the law, there is no way the court's judgment could have been otherwise.