Court bans Amazon Web Services (AWS) logo from being used in China


by

Tony Webster

Amazon Web Services (AWS) , a cloud service developed by Amazon , also uses the abbreviation 'AWS' in its logo. However, a Chinese court ruled that the trademark 'AWS' does not belong to Amazon, and banned the use of the 'AWS' logo in China.

Amazon Banned From Using AWS Logo in China Trademark Ruling --WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-banned-from-using-aws-logo-in-china-trademark-ruling-11609841232

Chinese courts ban Amazon from using the “AWS” logo
https://newyorknewstimes.com/chinese-courts-ban-amazon-from-using-the-aws-logo/69745/

Chinese court bans Amazon from using'AWS' logo
https://nypost.com/2021/01/05/chinese-court-bans-amazon-from-using-aws-logo/



The Wall Street Journal, 'trademark is not the Amazon of' AWS ', is China's software data services company' belonging to ActionSoft Science & Technology Development Co., '' the ruling of the Beijing High People's Court under the I reported that I did. The ruling banned Amazon from using 'AWS' or a similar logo in China, and ordered it to pay 76.5 million yuan (about 1,217 million yen) as compensation for ActionSoft. ..

The court reportedly issued this decision in May 2020, but the announcement of the decision was delayed until December 30. According to foreign media such as The Wall Street Journal, it is not uncommon for Chinese courts to have a time lag of several months between a decision and an announcement.

Amazon has already taken action based on this ruling. Websites for Japan and other countries use the familiar 'AWS' logo, but ...



The Chinese version of the website does not use the 'AWS' logo but says 'amazon web services'.



Also, at the bottom of the Chinese version of the website, there was a note that ''AWS' is an abbreviation for'Amazon Web Services', and what is displayed here is not a trademark.'



According to The Wall Street Journal, ActionSoft registered its own 'AWS' logo as a trademark in 2004, eight years before Amazon registered a logo with an arrow that imitated a smile. ActionSoft sued Amazon in 2018, claiming that Amazon 'has been using the'AWS'brand since 2002.' Amazon strongly opposes the ruling and has appealed to the Supreme People's Court .

An Amazon spokeswoman said, 'Amazon Web Services, under the name'AWS', developed and spread cloud services around the world before other companies competed. Amazon said,'AWS. It is the first company to sell cloud services in China using the Amazon logo. '

in Note,   Web Service, Posted by log1h_ik