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TAIWAN


DIRECT FROM THE STRAIT: 2011’S GREATEST HITS


Candy Chen and Crystal Chen Tsai Lee & Chen


China and Taiwan get reciprocal


China and Taiwan have recognised priority claims to patent, trademark and plaint variety applications that are fi led at either the Taiwan Intellectual Property Offi ce (TIPO) or the State Intellectual Property Offi ce of China (SIPO). T e priority date, which is the earliest fi ling date claimed on the counterpart application, may be traced back to the eff ective date of the agreement between Taiwan and China ie, September 12, 2010.


Taiwanese enterprises/individuals and mainland Chinese enterprises/ individuals can now file applications in Taiwan first, and then claim the subsequent application in mainland China for the same priority date, or vice versa.


If the applicant is a foreign-based entity, it may fi le in mainland China fi rst and then claim local priority for its Taiwan trademark, patent or plant variety, as Taiwan unilaterally acknowledges the claim based on World Trade Organization agreements. However, foreign applicants that do the opposite will not receive the acknowledgement, according to the Provisions for Claim for Priority of Applicants of Trademark Registration in Taiwan, a new document from the competent authority in China.


Taiwan amends trademark act


Taiwan’s legislative arm (the Legislative Yuan) passed an amendment to the country’s trademark act on May 31, 2011.


T e amendment has revised 71 articles, added 26 and deleted nine. T e trademark act now has 111 articles. T e new amendment:


• Relaxes protectable subject matter for trademarks. It allows any signs that have met the distinctiveness requirement to be registered and protected, including motion marks and hologram marks, as long as relevant consumers recognise them as indications of origins of goods or services.


232 World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2012


• Provides relief measures for missing deadlines. Applicants who make procedural mistakes, such as missing the designated deadline to respond to the trademark offi ce, may be able to correct it before an offi cial decision is issued. However, applicants are required to show that they had due cause for missing a deadline.


• Abolishes the two-instalment payment mechanism for paying the registration fee. However, applicants who inadvertently fail to meet the due date for paying the registration fee may reinstate their rights if a double payment is made within six months of the due date.


• Enhances flexibility for trademark licence recordation. A trademark proprietor may license out its right to an exclusive or non-exclusive licensee in an entire or restricted geographic location, and may record the licence with the trademark office. An exclusive licensee has the right to enforce its right on its own behalf when the trademark is infringed in the scope of its licence.


• Distinguishes the trademark proprietor’s legitimate use of a mark from the infringing use of another’s trademark right. For the maintenance of a right, a trademark shall be used in relation to goods or services, and for sales and marketing purposes, including online use and use in electronic forms. However, an infringing use of a trademark encompasses not only activities for the sales of goods and services, but also the possession and display of trademarked articles that have not combined with goods or services, eg, labels or tags.


• Identifi es indicative use as a type of fair use of a trademark right. Indicative use of another’s trademark, such as for comparative advertising, repairing services for trademarked goods and indicating compatibility with another’s products, will be exonerated from the binding eff ect of the relevant trademark right.


www.worldipreview.com


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