Luster of Beidou’s name will not rub off on commercial projects

AN APP NAMED BEIDOU MAP, an institute called Beidou Civil Use Institute and industrial parks named after the Beidou have recently been exposed as having no connection with the Beidou Navigation Satellite System . ThePaper.cn comments:

The name of China’s satellite-based radio navigation system developed by the China Space Science and Technology Group, which is now widely used in surveying and mapping, transportation, forest fire prevention, disaster mitigation and relief, and other fields of public security, should not be misused.

For instance, an industrial park that uses Beidou in its name in Southwest China’s Chongqing is an unfinished complex.

The wide use of the Beidou system does not mean that any project using the information it supplies or related to its use can be named after it.

It is obvious some businesspeople intentionally use Beidou as a means of raising the status of their projects, suggesting that they may have State support or background.

Some local governments are also happy to see Beidou appearing in the names of local institutes and industrial parks, to make them more high-tech.

And some mobile phone manufacturers only install a Beidou short message reporting software in their products and then boldly promote the phones as Beidou smartphone.

The central authorities, as the major sponsor of the development of the Beidou system, as well as the developer of the system should take concrete actions immediately to protect the intellectual property rights of the Beidou system, putting an end to the chaotic situations regarding the use of Beidou brands and concepts.

There are no specific laws or rules to guarantee the proper use of the names or concepts related to State science and technology projects. But the legislature, the IPR protection authorities and the undertakers of the projects should bear in mind that State-owned projects belong to the people, and should not be misused by private companies.