BBC sues Chinese company for trademark infringement

A Beijing district court said Sunday the British Broadcasting Company had filed a lawsuit against a Chinese company for using its name to promote an English learning app.

The trademark infringement lawsuit, announced by a Haidian district court, accused iYuba, a Beijing-based language learning firm, of using BBC's trademark and content on its apps, websites and social media without any authorization.

The BBC is seeking 500,000 yuan (US$78,950) in compensation and asked the company to cease infringing on its trademark registered in China.

The BBC claimed that it had sent letters to ask iYuba to remove its brand name from content and messages, and the Chinese company has yet to respond.

According to the court notice, the BBC has registered nearly 400 trademarks in China since the 1980s, 60 of which contain "BBC."

Established in 2012, the Beijing-based company aims to build an online platform for people to learn English.