The Shaanxi Xiaofeiyang Industrial Co. and Xi'an Xiaofeiyang Barbecue are suing a central government agency for allowing another company to use the Xiaofeiyang trademark.

The first hearing in the trial was held in the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday.

The two firms claim that the Trademark Appraisal Committee of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC), improperly administered ownership of the trademark.

The Trademark Bureau, also subordinate to the SAIC, authorized a third company, the Inner Mongolia Xiaofeiyang Food Chain Co., to use the name in 2003.

The two plaintiffs appealed the decision that year with the Trademark Appraisal Committee, but the committee denied their appeal.

In court on Tuesday, the two plaintiffs said they applied to register the Xiaofeiyang (Little Fat Sheep) trademark in 2000, three years before the Inner Mongolia company acquired the trademark.

At that time, the Trademark Bureau authorized the two Xi'an firms to use the logo, but told them to delete the three Chinese characters that form the word "Xiaofeiyang." However, both companies continued to use the three characters.

The appraisal committee responded that it was the Inner Mongolia company using the Xiaofeiyang trademark that had made the name so well known.

The date of a possible verdict in the case was not available.

Reportedly, more than 5,000 companies throughout China use the name "Xiaofeiyang."

(China Daily April 6, 2005)