“The trademark battle between \"North and South Daoxiangcun\" remains unresolved; instrument manufacturers should also be cautious

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　　A trademark is a mark used to distinguish a particular operator’s brand or services from those of other operators’ goods or services; it plays a very important role in the development of businesses, but disputes arising therefrom are also quite common. For instrument and meter companies, trademark issues should also be given due attention. http://www.jiweimeter.com/uploads/image/20181018/1539849585.jpg Not long ago, there was a major controversy over the trademark contract for \"Wanglaoji\", worth 108 billion yuan; it took time and effort to resolve this issue. Recently, another piece of news regarding a trademark lawsuit has reached the forefront of attention. Suzhou Daoxiangcun Food Co., Ltd. and Beijing Daoxiangcun Food Co., Ltd., as well-known pastry manufacturers, have ended up in court over the trademark \"Daoxiangcun\". 　　After some deliberation, the two courts issued completely different rulings. The Industrial Park Court of Suzhou ruled that the trademark rights of Suzhou Daoxiangcun had been infringed, ordering compensation of 1.15 million yuan. However, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court ruled that Suzhou Daoxiangcun must cease using the \"Daoxiangcun\" trademark belonging to Beijing Daoxiangcun, and pay Beijing Daoxiangcun 30 million yuan in compensation, among other things. 　　It is understood that the dispute between \"North and South Daoxiangcun\" has lasted for twelve years, which demonstrates the importance that both companies attach to their trademarks. Therefore, in the course of their development, instrumentation companies must attach great importance to the role of trademarks, regulate their use, and minimize disputes as much as possible. Currently, the registration cost for a certain type of trademark is around 1,000 yuan. 　　After years of development, the instrumentation industry has also given rise to a number of well-known trademarks. In the industry, their trademark is a guarantee of quality and excellence. 　　With the rapid development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the growth of the international market for smart water meters, more and more instrumentation companies are selling their products around the world, striving to create well-known brands with international competitiveness; therefore, extra attention should be paid to trademark issues. 　　Currently, abroad, instrument and meter companies generally develop by investing in the establishment of physical businesses, finding local agents/distributors, operating through franchising, or distributing other brands’ products. Among them, the business model of distributing branded products often involves issues such as intellectual property rights. Therefore, once instrumentation companies achieve a certain scale of sales in their target markets and gain a certain level of market recognition, they should register their trademarks there as soon as possible in order to minimize the impact of any trademark-related issues. 　　A trademark is essentially a brand asset created by companies through significant investment of capital or resources in their products. The more often a trademark is seen and heard by the public, the higher its valuation will be; therefore, instrument and meter manufacturers must pay close attention to this. At the same time, when faced with malicious infringement incidents, instrumentation companies must not back down and should resolutely use legal means to defend their trademark rights.