DHAKA: Beijing court has ruled in favour of Facebook and against a Chinese company which had registered ‘face book’ as a separate trademark.

The court said the firm had ‘violated moral principles’ with ‘obvious intention to duplicate and copy from another high-profile trademark’, BBC reports on Monday (May 9).

The Zhongshan Pearl River Company had registered the name in 2014.

Facebook is blocked in China but has recently gone on a charm offensive to access the Chinese market.

The court statement - released on April 28 but not widely covered in English - has led Chinese local media to speculate whether Beijing's hard stance against Facebook might soften.

During a recent visit to China, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg met with China's propaganda chief Liu Yunshan as well as fellow media guru Jack Ma.

In what critics described as a publicity stunt to win China's favour, he also went for a run on Beijing's Tiananmen Square despite heavy pollution.

BDST: 1331 HRS, May 9, 2016
SAS/AKA