Baijia sues OKAI over trademark infringement

Sichuan Baijia Food Company (SBFC), one of the largest instant noodle manufacturers in China, has filed a lawsuit against OKAI Import Export GmbH with the Munich District Court in Germany, asking the court to cancel OKAI's trade mark application of the Baijia trade mark and return the trade mark to Baijia Food.

OKAI, a Germany-based department store run by a Chinese-German, is said to be a distributor for Chinese food manufacturers including SBFCL and Wangzhihe. It is reported that OKAI had pre-emptively registered the trade mark of Baijia in the European Union.

Hu Yuanqiang, a representative from Baijia Food, says that the company contacted OKAI to discuss the matter many times after learning that the Baijia trade mark was pre-emptively registered by OKAI but all the talks were fruitless.

It is said that OKAI has also pre-emptively registered the trade marks of seven Chinese food manufacturers including Wangzhihe, Baijia, Laoganma and Qiaqia. Chen Zhaohui, president of Baijia Food, has disclosed to the Chinese media that Baijia Food is considering joining forces with other Chinese companies to collectively claim back their trade marks.