China trademark applications in Taiwan rise sharply

TAIPEI, (AFP) - Chinese firms filed 35 percent more trademark applications in Taiwan in 2010 compared to a year earlier, reflecting ever closer commercial ties between the two sides, government data showed Friday.

Taiwan received 1,603 applications from Chinese firms wishing to register trademark last year, of which only 23 were rejected, while 486 were approved and 1,094 were pending, said the island’s ministry of economic affairs.

Meanwhile, Taiwan filed 10,767 trademark applications to China in 2010, a rise of 0.85 percent from the previous year, the ministry said.

The ministry attributed the increase to the signing of an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between Taiwan and China last June.

The pact has been characterised as the boldest step yet towards reconciliation between the former rivals, which split after the end of a civil war in 1949.

Although Taiwan and China have been governed separately for more than six decades, Beijing considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to get it back, by force if necessary.

China has become Taiwan’s leading trade partner and export market in recent years, despite lingering political tensions.