Tsinghua University sues Chinese kindergartens for using its name
- Legal action by one of country’s best known university is attempt to fight common trend of adopting names of globally renowned education establishments such as Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge
- Kindergartens defend use of name saying it is also used on streets or even as a given name
One of China’s most renowned universities has started a legal action against kindergartens for using its name without permission.
The sight of schools and kindergartens using the names of some of the world’s best known educational establishments is a common one across the country, but Tsinghua University has decided to fight back by suing a number of kindergartens in eastern China that include the two characters for “Tsinghua” in their names, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.
A court in Ganzhou in Jiangxi province, heard five cases filed by the university alleging infringement of its trademark on Wednesday, a few weeks after two similar cases were heard elsewhere in the province, the report said.
The legal action has generated a big online buzz, with many internet users saying they used to study in schools or kindergartens named after foreign universities such as Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard.
There are about 400 organisations or corporations across China that include the words “Tsinghua Kindergarten” in their names, according to Tianyancha, a business data search tool.
In one case heard by the Ganzhou Intermediate People’s Court, the university said it obtained trademark rights to the two traditional Chinese characters “Tsinghua” in 1998 and the four characters “Tsinghua University” – the first two in traditional Chinese and last two simplified – in 2009.
