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The use of a crocodile logo has again sparked a dispute between the Singapore-based Crocodile International Pte Ltd and the French retailer Lacoste.

Crocodile Logo of the French Retailer Lacoste.

Crocodile logo of Singapore-based Crocodile International Pte Ltd.

Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court Monday held the first hearing on the copyright case filed by Tan Hian Tsin, the creator of the Singapore crocodile logo, and the Singapore company in March of 2002. The two plaintiffs also asked for compensation of US$1 together with a public apology.

The Singapore firm's crocodile faces left, while Lacoste's faces right. The two companies had been involved in similar disputes over the logo since 1960, and now another two cases involving the two are in process in Beijing.

Tan, a Chinese-born Malaysian, swore to the court that he created the logo with a crocodile design in 1947 with the English word "crocodile''in his own handwriting. The design was registered on December 13, 1951, as a trademark in Singapore.

"Tan also established the Singapore firm,'' said Tao Xinliang, attorney for the plaintiffs. "The firm has long been the only company licensed to use the logo, and Tan also gave the company the right to the copyright.''

The plaintiffs insisted that Malaysia joined the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an international organization working to protect copyrights, in 1990.

"China joined the convention in 1992,'' Tao said. "Therefore, according to the convention, Tan's logo has been put under protection in China since 1992.''

However, the plaintiffs charged that the French retailer applied to China's Trademark Office of State Administration for Industry and Commerce in 1995 to register a trademark with the same crocodile design as Tan's.

"The French company just copied the Singapore design,'' he added.

Huang Hui, an attorney for the defendant, argued that the plaintiffs did not prove when Tan became a Malaysian, and that if Tan was still a Singaporean in 1995, China could not grant Tan's design legal protection at that time as Singapore was not a member of the Convention at that time.

"Singapore joined the Convention in 1998, and the Singapore crocodile could not get legal protection in China in 1995.''

According to Huang, French tennis legend Rene Lacoste registered the logo in 1933 in France, and he put the reptile emblem on his own line of sports clothing.

The defendant insisted that it was the Singaporean logo that was infringing upon the defendant's rights.

"The French company application to register the logo in 1995 was made to protect its own rights,'' Huang said.

Tao claimed that Tan created the logo independently. He also presented in court an agreement signed by the two companies in 1983 bearing the respective logos of the two companies.

"The two companies had reached agreement that year that the two logos could co-exist,'' he added.

Disputes between the two companies started in the 1960's in many Asian countries when Lacoste entered Asia. This time, things have grown even worse in the ever-growing Chinese market.

In China, the French firm sued the Singapore firm in April of 2000 in the Beijing Higher People's Court, asking for compensation of 3.5 million yuan (US$423,200). The case is not yet settled.

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