Yao Anna

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei apologized during a Huawei's internal online forum for registering a trademark for his daughter Annabel Yao under Huawei's name, media reported on Wednesday.

Yao Siwei, Ren's daughter, made her debut as an entertainer on January 14. Annabel Yao and Yao Anna are her stage names. Huawei on January 25 applied for trademark registration Annabel Yao, Yao Anna in several categories, with the current trademark status shows as being in the "trademark application" stage, according to company information platform Tianyancha.

Based on media reports, Ren made the apology at Huawei's online community Xinsheng Shequ on Wednesday, with a statement stating that some companies or individuals maliciously preempted the registration of Annabel Yao and Yao Anna trademark and Huawei had to register otherwise the trademarks would become the property of outside parties. 

"According to the provisions of China's trademark law, citizens of Chinese mainland must use the name of the company or hold an individual industrial and commercial business license to apply for trademark registration. Yao has just graduated and has yet to register a company. Therefore, Ren has entrusted the intellectual property department to register trademark as the agent, and will later transfer them to Yao's studio, and she will pay the full cost of the application," read the statement.

The statement also said that it was the first time Ren used the company power for private purposes, for which he apologized to all employees.

According to Tianyancha, there were applications from four entities, including Huawei, of Annabel Yao and Yao Anna trademarks right after her debut as an artist.

Global Times