A market well known to visitors to Beijing for its low-priced clothing has been hauled before the court for trademark infringement.

But it's not the items on sale that are under scrutiny in this case -- it is the name of the market itself.

Beijing Xiushui Haosen Clothing Market Company, operators of the market, and co-defendant Beijing Xinya Shenghong Real Estate Development Company, its real estate developer, deny infringing the rights of Beijing Yelusheng Commerce and Trade Company, the trademark owner and plaintiff.

The plaintiff is claiming 3.5 million yuan (US$423,000) in compensation.

But the defendants claim the name "Silk Street" was around long before the trademark was registered, and that the registration itself was malicious.

"Silk Street" market was established in 1985 and re-housed in a multi-story department store near the original site last year out of safety concerns.

No judgment was made at the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court, which held the first hearing yesterday.

The Trademark Bureau of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce authorized the registration of Yelusheng Company's Silk Street trademark in 2002, according to the plaintiff's lawyer, Wu Xiaodong.

"The defendants used the Silk Street logo on the building without permission," Wu told the court.

"The defendants also used the logo and characters of Silk Street in their advertising collateral a number of times," Wu added.

The lawyer also claimed the reputation of the company had been damaged because the new Silk Street market was caught for selling fake brands earlier this year.

The plaintiff asked the court to order the defendants to stop using their logo and issue a public apology to the effect that their branding is illegal.

"The whole process was authorized by the local government," said the defendants' lawyer, Yu Tanzhen.

"The Silk Street trademark was registered for a company providing advice, consultation and other services. To use Silk Street as the name of a building does not violate the trademark at all," Yu said.

"The plaintiff has nothing to do with the Silk Street market. But it registered the trademark. It is suspected that the registration was malicious," said lawyer Zhang Weifeng.

Zhang added that people have come to know "Silk Street" as a name of a place and a department store and not a trademark.

(China Daily July 7, 2005)