BEIJING, November 8 (TMTPOST)— Boys will be boys while girls may not do the same. The trademark registration in the name of an heiress of China’s telecom giant Huawei once again turned stunning eye-catching among Chinese netizens as the approval of such registrations became the most searched term on China’s popular social media platform Weibo over the weekend, even hotter than the e-sports club Edward Gaming which first ever won the League of Legends World Championship for the LPL Chinese league.
Screenshot of Part of Weibo "Hot Searches" List
The Trademark Office of China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recently approved trademark registration applications using the term “Yao An’na”—the Chinese name of Annabel Yao, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei’s youngest daughter born to his second wife, according to the agency’s site. With ten-year validity from October 21, 2021 to October 20, 2031, the trademark filed by Huawei is permitted to be applied in services or goods include but not limited to information transmission, mobile phones communication, services of conference call and video conference, plastic surgeon, beauty services, downloadable music files, computer programs (downloadable softwares), various hardwares such personal computers, laptops, mobiles, chips (integrated circuit), diversified rental services such as rental of meeting rooms, furniture, cooking devices, water coolers, carpets.
Annabel Yao was dubbed the Little Princess of Huawei as she is the half-sister of Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei Chief Finanicial Officer and referred to as the Princess of Huawei by state media who was released back to China in September following her detainment in Canada for three years on U.S. criminal charges that intensified U.S.-China tensions.
Huawei has applied for a total of 90 trademark registrations about Annabel Yao either in her two Chinese names or her English name in late January, right after she released a video documentary entitled Breaker to announce entry into the entertainment industry as an artist signed with an agency Tianhao Shengshi Entertainment.
Source: Tianhao Shengshi Entertainment
In order to prevent “some companies or individuals from trademark squatting targeting Annabel Yao”, we “have no choice but to take such actions” as citizens can only apply for trademarks on behalf of a company or hold the individual business license under China’s Trademark Law and Yao, as a fresh graduate, doesn’t registered her own company, according to a statement on Huawei’s online forum Xinsheng Community explained its application in early February. The statement said Ren Zhengfei had entrusted the application to Huawei’s Intellectual Property Department and Yao’s studio would pay for all the relevant fees. Ren apologized for “his first abusing the company’s power for personal purposes” to all the employees, the statement added.
