Region: Taiwan

The Taiwanese Intellectual Property Office has issued draft guidelines on the examination of whether a likelihood of confusion exists between conflicting marks. An examination of the likelihood of confusion is a requirement of the new Trademark Law, which came into effect in November last year.

15 April 2004

The Taiwan Network Information Centre has announced that it will work with Neulevel to promote the registration of '.tw' domain names outside Taiwan and China. The move follows a relaxation of registration requirements that allows foreign entities to register domain names using the appropriate '.tw' extension.

10 February 2004

The Enforcement Rules of the Trademark Law came into force last month, following the implementation of the law itself on November 28. The rules include provisions that (i) set the priority date for the registration of new types of trademarks (eg, sound marks), and (ii) give licencees the right to record trademark licences if accompanied by a licence agreement.

23 January 2004

In <i>GA Modefine SA v Tai-Shin Management Consulting Co Ltd</i>, a panellist from the Science and Technology Law Centre of the Institute for Information Industry has ordered the transfer of 'armani.com.tw' to the complainant - the owner of the ARMANI mark. The panellist held that the registrant had no legitimate rights in the domain name, and had registered and used it in bad faith.

10 October 2003

The Taiwan presidential office has promulgated amendments to the Trademark Law that will take effect on November 28. The substantial changes will afford protection to a wider range of marks, as well as affect, among other things, opposition, invalidation and cancellation procedures, and infringement provisions.

25 June 2003

The Taipei High Administrative Court has ordered the cancellation of a Taiwanese registered DUEL mark based on a prior registration of the same mark in Japan. The court held that although the Japanese mark was not registered in Taiwan, it is well known to Taiwanese consumers because of the close ties between the two countries.

08 May 2003

The Supreme Administrative Court has issued a resolution which provides that an agent, acting on behalf of a trademark owner who has no domicile or place of business in Taiwan, must submit the power of attorney which gives the agent its authority to act on behalf of that party, each time a trademark-related case is brought before the courts.

13 March 2003

In <i>NBA Property Inc v Chen, Chien-Chi</i>, the High Court of Taiwan has ordered the cancellation of the registration for 'nba.com.tw'. The court affirmed a district court cybersquatting decision, holding that the plaintiff's NBA mark is well known and the use of the disputed domain name may have confused consumers.

18 February 2003