This article underscores the importance of thinking globally when you grow your business. Will you be marketing overseas some day, or perhaps you are already? Have you considered the importance of protecting your brand from illegal imitators? Have you secured domains in the countries you will be doing business in? Will you translate your website and marketing material from central corporate content repositories, or will you choose to let your overseas offices do what they will with your original corporate brand(s) and image? In other words, how much control will you have over your brand(s) when your business expands globally?

Brand piracy remains rampant in China, despite several court rulings against illegal imitators. In December, Starbucks won a court ruling against a Shanghai coffee shop that was using a similar logo and an identical Chinese translation of the Starbucks name. It won $62,000 in damages from the Shanghai imitator, but an appeal has been filed.

Ferrero, the Italian confectioner, won a court case in January against a Chinese rival that produced copies of its Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

The likelihood of confusion between BlackBerry and RedBerry among consumers would seem high enough for RIM to have a good case. And the company's position would probably be enhanced in a Chinese court if China Mobile joined any action against RedBerry, said Paul Devinsky, a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Ultimately, any legal fight would hinge on who registered the trademark and service mark for BlackBerry first in China, he said.

Tags: Chinese | brand | piracy