A Chinese book company has applied to the Chinese Trademark Bureau for registering "civet cat" as its trademark, saying it hopes to sell its products as quick as the spread of SARS virus which is thought to have jumped from the mammal to humans.

Beijing Benben Book Ltd., a sub-company of the Marketing and Management magazine filed the application days after the official order to kill civet cats on the grounds that they carry the SARS virus, Wednesday's Beijing News reported.

Zhang Yongbing, director of the company, said that it had applied to have the three Chinese characters for "civet cat" -- "guo zi li" -- as a trademark in 16 major categories, mainly covering books, comics, printed publications and posters.

"Our clients will pass on the names of our products to potential buyers like a fast spreading virus and the number of  'infected' buyers will multiply at lightning speed," Zhang said.

However, some people opposed Zhang's idea, claiming it was unwise to trademark 'civet cat', as SARS remained a worrisome issue, and the fate of the civet cats was uncertain.

A trademark expert said the approval procedure could take 15 to 18 months.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2004)