Cookie Time logo hijacked

Photo / APN

China is infamous for counterfeiting everything from phony Rolex watches to knock-off Gucci bags. But fake Kiwi biscuits are a new one.

Cookie Time says it's "going to war" with a Chinese company it claims is trying to hijack its logo.

The Christchurch-based company said it had opposed Qingdao Chengze Trade Co's application to use the Cookie Time logo in China, but it may be two years before its case is heard.

General manager Lincoln Booth said it was unclear whether the Chinese company wanted to sell biscuits using its brand, or try to use the trademark application to get money out of his company.

Booth said Cookie Time was expanding globally and the Chinese company's application was blocking its own attempts to register in China.

Cookie Time had been in a similar situation 10 years ago, he said, when a Hong Kong-based company was using its logo to sell chocolate chip cookies.

"We stepped in and enforced our intellectual property rights," he said.

He said the two-year wait to get its case heard was a concern, especially given the issues Apple was having in China with its iPad.

A Chinese company, which claims ownership of the iPad trademark, is seeking a ban on imports and exports of the tablet computer in China.

"We've got some big growth plans and opportunities in play," said Booth, "and we will not tolerate other companies attempting to cash in [on] our own brand equity or steal a march on us in offshore markets."