Xiaomi, the smartphone giant that announced its entry into the car-making business last week, applied on April 1 to register the 小米汽车 (Xiaomi Motors) trademark, an international classification for handcrafted instruments, according to data provider Tianyancha.
The status of the trademark is currently under application.
It is noteworthy that the trademark 小米汽车 was applied for registration on March 12. The applicant was Shaoxing Jixiang Textile Co., Ltd. and the international classification is advertising sales, means of transportation, and the current status is under the application.
However, this pre-emptive registration is likely to be rejected.
Xiaomi has previously won a number of judgments in trademark infringement cases, receiving compensation ranging from RMB 400,000 to RMB 50 million ($7.63 million).
Many other manufacturers have failed to register trademarks for other products with the word Xiaomi on them.
According to a policy issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration on March 24, the scope of the crackdown includes "maliciously seizing others' trademarks or other commercial marks that are highly known or distinctive, to the detriment of others' prior rights and interests."
Xiaomi announced its entry into the smart electric vehicle market on March 30, with an initial investment of RMB 10 billion and an expected investment of $10 billion over the next 10 years.
Lei Jun, the company's founder, will also serve as CEO of the smart electric vehicle business.
Nio learned from Xiaomi in its early days, and now the student has become the teacher
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