Organisation: Taiwan Intellectual Property Office

A prior right owner may demonstrate an applicant’s bad faith under Article 30(I)(12) of the Trademark Act if the two parties are competitors in the same industry or are engaged in related fields, even if they have no direct business relationship.

21 January 2022

This decision of Taiwan’s IP Court demonstrates what type of evidence is required to prove trademark use when the mark at issue is used on a website that does not have a ‘.tw’ top-level domain.

09 November 2021

In these opposition proceedings involving the marks SIMFY and SOMFY, Taiwan’s Supreme Administrative Court rebuked the IP Court for failing to take into consideration all relevant factors when determining the similarity of the goods and services.

23 August 2021

Taiwan’s IP Court has recently issued two decisions involving Volkswagen’s mark ID.4 and Taipei Financial Center Corporation’s mark 101 - with very different outcomes. 

19 March 2021

In cancellation proceedings against the mark DADA SUPREME, the  Taiwanese courts have imposed strict criteria for the cancellation of a trademark registration based on the improper use of the mark by a local licensee.

06 July 2020

A major amendment to the regulations governing customs border measures will be key in the protection of trademarks. The measures allow the owner of a trademark to apply to have it recorded on Customs' database, enabling Customs to seize counterfeits when it inspects imported or exported goods <i>ex officio</i>.

26 September 2017

In a story which has gained traction in Chinese language media, a homemade soap company has raised an outcry over the fact that the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has rejected its application for a trademark which translates roughly to ‘soap picker’. TIPO reportedly reached the decision because the proposed mark “refers to gay sex” and was “detrimental to public morals”. However, one commentator argues that the decision is more nuanced.

04 August 2015

In order to clarify the terms "contrary to public policy or accepted principles of morality" in Article 30, Paragraph 1, Item 7 of the Trademark Act, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office has issued the “Examination Guidelines for Trademarks Contrary to Public Order or Good Morals” as a reference for reviewing such trademarks. The guidelines took effect on May 11 2015.

17 June 2015

The IP Court has ruled in favour of BabyBoss City Limited in a dispute with Hugo Boss over the figurative mark BABYBOSS. The court was not convinced that there would be likelihood of confusion among consumers as to the source of the goods. The judgment is significant because, three months earlier, a different tribunal of the same court had found that there was a likelihood of confusion between the word mark BABYBOSS and Hugo Boss’s marks.

04 November 2013

The Intellectual Property Court has upheld decisions of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Economic Affairs finding that the trademark BAO MA in Chinese characters (and 'knight riding a horse' device), which covered goods in Class 18, was confusingly similar to an earlier trademark consisting of a 'knight riding a horse' device, also for goods in Class 18.

10 April 2012