STMA Approves Registration of Phonetic Spelling of Famous Chinese Cigarette Brand

Source from:  Beijing City 12/15/2005

The Trademark Administration of China approved in November the phonetic spelling of Zhongnanhai (Chunghanhai), which is a decades-old famous cigarette brand of Beijing Cigarette Factory, to meet the situation following the entry into force of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in China. For decades, Zhongnanhai (Chungnanhai), which literally means the South Central Lake, has been used as a low-tar-level blend-type Chinese cigarette brand, along with the wording of Lights. Beijing Cigarette Factory submitted its application to the Trademark Administration for the registration of the phonetic spelling of Zhongnanhai in 2003. After review and proclamation of the application, the Trademark Administration eventually approved both spelling forms of Zhongnanhai and Chungnanhai as part of the registered trademark of Zhongnanhai, without the accompaniment of Lights. China signed the FCTC in 2003. To facilitate the implementation of this international convention in China, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) - the watchdog of China's tobacco industry - has recently promulgated the Rules for Regulating Indications on Packaging of Cigarette Products for Domestic Sales. The rules provides that neither the packaging of cigarette products nor the instruction attached to them may contain statements to indicate the effects or functions of their ingredients such as "healthcare", "medical effects", "safe cigarettes", "environment-friendly" and "reduced-harm"; statements to indicate their quality such as "lights", "super lights" and "mild"; or such indications as "middle to low tar level", "low tar level" and "low content of tar". Enditem