“Government officials in the Yunnan border town of Ruili held a forum this week discussing how to legally protect the city’s name. One option, openly supported by the many on July 5 meeting, is to sue companies trading on the Ruili name in provincial courts for intellectual property right infringement. However, it remains unclear if such litigation is even possible.” – (Gokunming.com)
Ruili is attaining regional significance for its participation in the deliberated Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar trade corridor; that comprises of a rail link to Dali is said to be exposed in 2017 including President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
However, some townsfolk who are in favor of intellectual property protection reasoned that protecting their brand image is a compelling duty of the City Hall. Their statuses as “beautiful scenery and pleasant weather” as well as “an Emerald City trade hub with multi-ethnic and multi-cultural” must be kept since these titles have been part of the place’s cultural progress. Nevertheless, it has came to social media’s attention if the town has lost some profits or if this case is just an inexplicable exertion to produce cash.
On the other hand, Professor Ning Lizhi of the Intellectual Property Research Institute at Wuhan University suggests that Ruili Administration requires inaugurating a specialized bureau tasked to identify copyright infringement culprits.