Region: Taiwan

BOY LONDON: Supreme Administrative Court considers registrability of trademarks containing foreign city name

An official objection on the ground that a trademark is misleading cannot be overcome by submitting evidence showing that the mark has acquired a secondary meaning through longstanding and extensive use.

20 September 2022

Taiwan IP Office updates examination guidelines for the digital age

New amendments by the Taiwanese IP Office to guidelines on distinctiveness gives brand owners a much greater scope of protection. The changes cover characters, foreign words and compound words, slogans, and shapes and devices of goods or services.

15 September 2022

Nike settles John Geiger suit; COCOELLA mark cancelled; Bed Bath & Beyond cuts private label brands – news digest

In our latest round-up, we look at the outgoing UKIPO head reflecting on the past and future, thousands of bags of fake rice being seized in Kenya, and much more.

02 September 2022

Hashtags using trademarks deemed to be promotion, not infringement

The IPC Court has ruled that the use of another group’s registered trademarks as a hashtag on social media constitutes promotion and does not suggest sponsorship or endorsement, therefore is not likely to create confusion.

21 July 2022

Questions remain regarding the registration of trademarks in the metaverse

Nike is registering its marks in new classes to keep up with the evolving virtual trademark landscape, however it is unclear if and how Taiwan’s IP system will adapt to protect IP rights in the metaverse.

14 July 2022

Taiwanese legislature passes amendments to Trademark Act to meet CPTPP requirements

It is expected that the amendments will strengthen the protection of trademark rights, uphold social justice and respond to the industry's expectations.

23 June 2022

Amazon Technologies loses out on distinction between suggestive or descriptive

The IP and Commercial Court has upheld the Taiwan IP Office’s rejection of Amazon Technologies’ mark – an invented word that is simply the combination of two dictionary words – finding it descriptive rather than suggestive.

09 June 2022

Taiwan passes amendments to Copyright Act, Trademark Act and Patent Act to strengthen IP protection

This update provides an overview of the key amendments to the laws, including the fact that criminal liability now applies to certain preparatory and contributory acts of trademark infringement.

07 June 2022

Draft amendment of the Trademark Act sets outs big system overhaul

A raft of suggested changes to the current Trademark Act could have a big impact on the IP landscape for many years to come. In particular, the draft amendments propose establishing a new committee that would be responsible for reviewing all formally rejected cases and examining invalidation and cancellation actions.

26 May 2022

Bait-and-switch SEO technique exploits brands and violates Fair Trade Act

An online retail platform manipulating internet search algorithms to drive traffic to its website has been found to violate the Fair Trade Act and to be “taking a free ride on the competitor’s business efforts”.

19 May 2022