(China's trademark office has rejected a Japanese pharmaceutical company's application to trademark the "three alls". Photo: Guangzhou Daily/file)

China's trademark office has rejected a Japanese pharmaceutical company's application to trademark the "three alls". The phrase refers to the "burn all, kill all and loot all" policy the invading Japanese army implemented in China during World War Two, killing 3.2 million people from 1938 to 1945.

The Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has confirmed the action but declined to provide more details, according to a Contemporary Gold newspaper report.

Insiders say the application to trademark the "three alls" is illegal according to China's Trademark Law, which outlaws the registration of trademarks that discriminate against the nation or harm the morality of society.

Ma Peifeng, manager of the Yujia Trademark Office in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, was the first person to denounce the trademark to the authorities. He said businesses should consider whether their brand will have a negative social impact, as customers would not accept brands with negative connotations.

Ma Peifeng said, "Everyone with faintest knowledge of history knows what the 'three-alls' means. But the Japanese company was planning to use the phrase to promote medicine, nutritional drinks and vitamin supplements for human consumption.”

The Contemporary Gold Newspaper interviewed a number of Chinese citizens on the streets. All opposed the registration of a “three-alls” brand.