Fake Goldman Sachs company discovered

folarin okunola

August 28, 2015 6:42 PM

A little weird but THE Goldman Sachs has found its doppelganger in China, except this doppelganger has no affiliation whatsoever with the New York-headquartered investment banking firm.

Goldman Sachs

If China can fake a chain of Apple Stores, Goldman Sachs shouldn't be too surprised to find its brand name isn't off-limits.

A little weird but THE Goldman Sachs has found its doppelganger in China, except this doppelganger has no affiliation whatsoever with the New York-headquartered investment banking firm.

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According to Bloomberg, it seems Goldman Sachs (Shenzhen) Financial Leasing Co. has been operating since May 2013, and it's not affiliated with the actual Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Shenzhen is one of the major financial cities in China, just north of Hong Kong. The metropolis is widely known for being home to a number of large Chinese firms such as Tencent, and is also the location of Foxconn's largest factory, dishing out iPhones, BlackBerrys and Xboxes.

The popular bank's spokesperson said the Shenzhen clone has no ties with it, and that Sachs is investigating next steps to take on the matter.

Putting a "Shenzhen" in there doesn't absolve the Chinese clone of possible trademark infringement, but other foreign firms that have sued for name changes in the past have failed to win such battles in Chinese courts.

China's trademark law follows a "first to file" rule, which is different from other countries such as the U.S. which follows a "first to use" system, which looks at whether companies have used the trademark in business.

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Last year, Tesla had to agree to settle out of court with a Chinese businessman who sued it for using its own name in China.

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