Peter Rabbit, a comic figure widely-famed in English speaking countries, is at the center of a trademark infringement lawsuit in China.
An official of the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court told Xinhua Thursday that the case involved the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) press, and Frederick Warne & Co Ltd of the United Kingdom.
The plaintiff, CASS, asked the court to confirm that the serial Peter Rabbit books had not infringed the trademark of the defendant, Frederick Warne & Co limited.
The famously misbehaved Peter Rabbit character was created by late American writer Beatrix Potter, who died in 1943.
The plaintiff noted in the indictment that Beatrix Potter created 19 Peter Rabbit serial stories.
According to the copyright law of the People's Republic of China, copyright protection extends until 50 years after the death of the writer.
The CASS press claimed to have obtained the legal copyright from the Chinese translator of the Peter Rabbit serial books in April, 2003.
But in May 2003, Frederick Warne & Co Ltd appealed to the industrial and commercial organization, claiming that it had already registered the trademark of all the illustrations of the Peter Rabbit serial books.
CASS was ruled to have infringed the registered trademark and was forced to halt selling.
The plaintiff, however, held that since the books had entered the public field, and it had already obtained the legal copyright from the translator, use of the illustrations was simply direct citation of the original works.
(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2003)
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