A souvenir shop in Hong Kong has taken down lettering from its viral wall featuring designs nearly identical to MTR station signage amid concerns over possible trademark and copyright infringement.
The MTR Corporation on Sunday declined to say whether the move by the Causeway Bay store was done at its request.
The company “attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property, which is safeguarded under the law of Hong Kong, and we shall act accordingly in the event of suspected infringement,” a spokesman for the rail operator told the South China Morning Post.
Earlier this month, the wall next to the storefront belonging to Hong Kong Souvenir on Kai Chiu Road in Causeway Bay was transformed into a “check-in” spot that soon attracted photo-snapping crowds.
The Kai Chiu Road destination quickly gained traction on the social media platform RedNote, where users touted it as a trendy new landmark.
“Coming out of [the Causeway Bay] MTR [station], there is finally a spot that displays the colourful mosaics of various stations together. They are very distinctive,” one user wrote. “Such an interesting way to hit all the top photo spots in one go.”
But passers-by spotted workers taking down the display last week. All the station names have been removed, leaving only the tile backgrounds on the wall. The “Hong Kong Station” sign in the middle of the wall has been replaced with “I love HK”.
An SCMP reporter who visited the shop on Sunday found MTR-related products promoted on the store’s Instagram had disappeared as well.
They included tote bags matching the wall and station-themed refrigerator magnets, mugs, coasters and umbrellas.
According to lawyer Albert So Man-kit, a company can run afoul of intellectual property laws if it mimicked a brand so closely that the public was misled into believing there was an official association between the two, even if no registered trademark was technically infringed upon.
“In such cases, the MTR Corp theoretically has the legal grounds to demand that the activity be stopped,” he said.
So urged creators to avoid using the MTR logo or the company’s name, while refraining from copying station names exactly to minimise legal risks.
