Taiwan Tea Merchants Association to Seek Cancellation of Outflanked Chinese Trademark Registrations of Geographical Designation of Celebrated Origins of Taiwanese Tea-leaf Products. Mainland Affairs Council Says “May Consider Referring The Dispute to WTO DRB. ” TIPO Says “Not Yet The Right Time to Do So.”

The continued reports about outflanked Chinese trademark registrations of the geographical designation of celebrated origins of Taiwanese tea-leaf products drew the attention of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).  The MAC says it will coordinate with the representatives from the Taiwan Tea Merchants Association with respect to the contemplated filing of application with the PRC Trademark Office for cancellation of the outflanked registrations.  The MAC says, if necessary, it will assist Taiwan tea merchants in filing complaint in the relevant court or request for dispute resolution with the WTO DRB.  The Council says it will subsidize the necessary expenses incurred.  Meanwhile, the Straits Exchange Foundation will write to the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits to call for the PRC authority’s due attention to the matter with a view to early cancellation of the outflanked registrations.

  With respect to the MAC’s above opinion, TIPO says the task of the WTO DRB is resolving intellectual property disputes between member states not between the right holders.  Taiwan tea merchants may file applications with the Chinese trademark authority for cancellation of the outflanked registrations.  TIPO says it is not yet the right time to file request for dispute resolution with the WTO DRB.

  The statistics shows that the number of trademark applications Taiwanese nationals file with the PRC trademark authority continues to rise each year since 1989 and as of the end of 2004 amounted to more than 90,000, the number of which is almost 40 times as much as the number of Taiwanese trademark applications filed by PRC nationals which amounted to only 2,591 as of the end of 2005.  According to TIPO, due to the number of the Taiwanese trademark applications filed by PRC nationals in contrast to the number of Chinese trademark applications filed by Taiwanese nationals, there is little merit for Taiwan to take any countermeasures in Taiwan.  (2006.01)