If a name is trademarked in one country, can it be used in another?

[merla15]

Say a Chinese company trademarks the name Kung Pao Co. in China. Can a Finnish person start a company with the same name in Finland?

[eilis]

No trademarks are part of an international law. No one may have the same name or can be subject to prosecution

[tai38]

No, Some major USA company was recently sued by a chinese Company, be cause the Name was similar to a chinese character translation. It was a nuisance suit and so poorly worked that the Chinese court threw it out.

[mohammed47]

In general, once it is protected in one country it is protected in another.

While the copyright law of one country is not automatically binding on any other (i.e. China cannot technically force Finland to do anything), most countries now participate in international agreements where they agree to uphold each others' copyrights. One such agreement is the Berne Convention, which applies to most published works in most countries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works

There are other agreements like it as well. The whole thing is a bit complicated, however, so it is usually advisable to get legal advice for any specific situation.

[jabin20]

Trademarks are generally only of "local significance". In other words, you can use any mark in your country that has not already been used by others in your country, even if it is used and registered in OTHER countries. If they did not think to register their mark to reserve their rights in your country then they will have a very hard time convincing your local court that you should be prevented from using it.

Trademark law is VERY different from copyright law.