Abstract: With the acceleration of the economic globalization as well as the fast development of China’s economy, more and more foreign products are imported to China’s market and a large amount of domestic goods are sold to foreign countries. Manufacturers are paying more attention to the trademarks of their products. A trademark is a commercial tool used by companies, services and product divisions as a way of labeling. A trademark comes in different forms such as a word, symbol, icon, photo or phrase; it also can be a sound, color or even smell. Its main purpose is to communicate a distinct uniqueness about a product or service to customers. So trademark translation has become an important part of marketing strategy. A well-translated trademark can attract potential customers and inspire their enthusiasm for purchase; while a trademark with an improper translation sometimes will bring negative effects or even lead to spoilage of the image of the product. This paper first introduces the basic knowledge of trademarks and then analyzes the translation of trademarks based on cultural differences, suggests some translation principles and methods, and in the end this paper makes a conclusion that trademark translation is customer-orientated translation and trademark translation should conform to the target language usage and habits, social culture and purchasing psychology of customers.

Key words: trademarks; translation; methods; principles