Guangdong Provincial Administrative Law Enforcement Information Publicity Platform recently published three administrative penalty decisions on malicious registration/agency for the "Taliban" trademark. 

According to the administrative penalty decision, when accepting the consultation of Foshan Haizhixuan Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Haizhixuan company) for registration of the "Taliban" trademark, Zhili (Foshan) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhili company) informed the registrant that the success rate of applying for registration of “Taliban” trademark is about 90%. Knowing that Haizhixuan company is not engaged in the service industry and does not intend to use the service trademark, Zhili company still recommended to a simultaneous registration of the "Taliban" trademark for service. Haizhixuan company accepted the suggestion of Zhili company (hoping for opportunity to transfer it to others at a high price in the future), knowing that it is not engaged in the service industry and does not intend to use the service trademark. 

After investigation, Foshan Municipal Market Supervision Administration gave administrative penalties including: a fine of 2,000  yuan on the registrant; a total fine of 10,000 yuan on the trademark agency, confiscation of illegal income of 3,380 yuan, and a fine of 5,000 yuan on the person directly in charge. 

Reports say that Haizhixuan company applied for four registrations of "Taliban" trademarks on July 30, 2021, and then took the initiative to withdraw all the registrations due to the changes in the situation in Afghanistan. 

techwolf.com