SHAOLIN Temple, famous for its Shaolin kungfu, the symbol of Chinese martial arts, is worried that in a few years, it may not be allowed to use the name "Shaolin" when performing abroad. Many businesses with the words "Shaolin kungfu" are registered as trademarks for different products overseas.

　　Of the foreign countries, Japan and Australia are the two with the most "Shaolin kungfu" trademarks.

　　"Almost all the brand names containing the words 'Shaolin kungfu' have been registered there," the Beijing-based Star Daily quoted Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the authentic Shaolin Temple in North China's Henan Province, as saying.

　　"Besides Shaolin kungfu, there are Shaolin Wushu (martial arts), Shaolin quan (boxing), Shaolin skills ... all have been registered abroad for commercial use."

　　Early last year, a Japanese brand registration institute made a list of 272 items registered with the words "Shaolin", "Shaolin Temple" or "Shaolin boxing". The staff there gently warned Shi that if China continues to pay no attention to the problem, it would not be long before the world became confused about whether the authentic Shaolin Temple was in China or Japan.

　　The situation not only exists in Japan and Australia. In the US, the west coast alone has three temples named Shaolin. In Europe, Shaolin temples can be found in Vienna and Budapest although none of them has any relationship with China's Shaolin Temple.

　　According to the abbot, when he leads the monks on tours of foreign countries as part of a cultural exchange programme, he can't call their performances "Shaolin kungfu", unless they have negotiated an agreement with the local holder of the Shaolin kungfu trademark.

　　Abuses of the Shaolin brand is also seen in China. Statistics show that there are more than 100 enterprises using the name "Shaolin" in their trademarks. The products range from automobiles, furniture and hardware to food, medicines, hotels and restaurants.

　　"That will lead to a misunderstanding among the people as what is the real meaning behind the word 'Shaolin'," Shi said.

　　In his eyes, Shaolin is a unique religious culture developed over the temple's 1,500-year history, a combination of kungfu and Buddhism.

　　The temple has set up a corporation to safeguard this intangible asset and to regulate the use of its name, and the corporation has recently won a case in Germany.

　　However, whether "Shaolin kungfu" can be regarded as an intellectual property belonging only to the original Shaolin Temple is still under dispute. In Britain, Shaolin means Chinese kungfu to some trademark registration officials, which is not a "patent" of the temple. And in Australia, the trademark bureau sees "Shaolin" simply as another ordinary noun which can be used freely.

　　According to the abbot, the setting up of the corporation was not designed to totally restrict the use of the name "Shaolin", but to regulate it. There are already many martial arts schools using the name and misleading the trainees who attend them.

　　By Pan Haixia