Society

Chinese court rules against 'fake Doraemon'

May 05 (NHK) - A Chinese court has ruled that a character registered in the country is a copyright infringement of the popular Japanese anime robot cat Doraemon.

The court has ruled that the trademark given to the Chinese character is invalid.

A company in Fujian Province reportedly registered a robot cat character in 2015.

The following year, a Shanghai-based company, which is a licensed user of the Doraemon character, filed a complaint with a government agency, saying the Chinese character closely resembles Doraemon.

The agency decided that the trademark is invalid.

The firm in Fujian filed a lawsuit in January this year with the intellectual property court in Beijing to protest the decision.

The firm argued that its character bears little resemblance to Doraemon and said it is a completely different creation.

The judge in the case reportedly read Doraemon comics to prepare for the trial.

The ruling comes amid concerns about protection of intellectual property rights in China. Japanese brands have been trademarked in the country without permission from the rights holders.

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