A Beijing businessman has applied to use the Chinese name of US President George Bush to market his nappies.
President Bush could become synonymous with nappies
"Back in my hometown in Henan Province, the pronunciation of 'Bushi' sounds exactly like 'not wet'," said the man, surnamed Guo, according to local media.
But his application is likely to be rejected, authorities said.
"It may bring about bad social impact if a leader's name is registered as a trademark," said an official surnamed Liu at the State Trademark Bureau.
George Bush is not the only high-profile American who has appealed to Chinese businesses.
Mr Liu said the bureau had just turned down an application by a costume company to use the Chinese translation of "Lewinsky" as a fashion brand.
China's state Xinhua news agency said there was increasing interest in the use of a well-known person's name as a trademark.
It cited a pharmaceutical factory in south China's Guizhou Province which in 2001 succeeded in using Xie Tingfeng, the Mandarin name of Hong Kong pop star Nicholas Tse, to sell its anti-diarrhoea drug.
It added that officials have yet to rule on a request from a Beijing company called Nan Bei Tong to use the name of Mu Zimei, a 25-year-old sex columnist, on its condoms.
"Merchants are mainly driven by business interests, hoping a popular trade name will lead to a best-selling product," the agency quoted officials as saying.