China trademarks astronaut

The unauthorised use of Colonel Yang's image will now be illegal

Chinese businesses hoping to cash in on the country's first man in space are to be sorely disappointed.

Space officials in Beijing have registered the image, name and signature of Colonel Yang Liwei, as a trademark, according to state-run media.

They are seeking to prevent the use of Colonel Yang to sell products, although he has already been used in advertisements, and on calendars and playing cards.

Colonel Yang became a household name after he blasted into space in his rocket Shenzhou V in October.

It made China only the third country to send a person into orbit, after the United States and the former Soviet Union.

Officials from the Beijing Space Medical Engineering Institute, who registered Colonel Yang's image, have threatened legal action unless companies stop using it for commercial purposes.

They said it was not just illegal, but also showed disrespect.

After his mission, businesses were scrambling to cash in on China's new hero, and to secure his name as a trademark.

Colonel Yang's spacecraft has also been protected from unauthorised use in the commercial market.

The Chinese name of the rocket, "Shenzhou Wuhao", has already been registered as a trademark by its makers, the Chinese Academy of Space Technology.