INTEL’s Four-Note Jingle Is a Trademark Too. Almost 100 Applications for Non-Conventional Trademark Have Been Approved In The Past Two Years.

The Trademark Law in Taiwan was widely amended on November 28, 2003 by adding that the single color, sound, and three-dimensional marks can be registered as trademarks, and the applications and approved applications for such “non-conventional trademarks” have been piling up thereafter.  Almost one hundred applications, such as those of the “square bottle” of Suntory Whisky Kakubin, “Smart” cars of Benz, INTEL’s four-note jingle, have been approved for registration and granted with trademark rights, and that refreshes the traditional business activities in Taiwan.

  According to the statistics issued by the IPO in Taiwan, a total of 567 applications for non-conventional trademarks have been filed, which include 375 for three-dimensional marks, 43 for sound marks, and 149 for color marks.  97 of them have been approved and granted with trademark rights after examination.  The 97 approved applications contain 65 cases for three-dimensional marks, 10 for sound marks, and 22 for color marks, representing an approval rate of 17.11%.

  The rise of non-conventional trademarks transforms the conventional concept to trademarks.  A trademark is no longer just that consisting of “two-dimensional, words, device”, but is developed into “three-dimensional, color, and sound”, or even to more sophisticated types of packaging and design.  There will be more and diverse types of trademarks in the future if “movement mark” or “scent mark”, etc, are also recognized, which will definitely make an impact on the fair competition between businesses.

  Countries all over the world always examine registration applications for non-conventional trademarks on case-by-case standard, but only small part of them have been approved.  OHIM’s examination (The Office for the Harmonisation in the Internal Market), for example, on three-dimensional trademarks represents an extremely low percentage of less than 1% of approval rate.  (2006.01)