Names of wine made locally shall not be similar to those of the wine made in Mainland China; great influence of a judgment from the Administrative Court

The Ministry of Finance has made wine-making open to the public from today. The Ministry of Economic Affairs (“MOEA”) indicated that irrespective of whether the trademarks used on the wine made in Mainland China are registered in Taiwan, local wineries shall not file registration for trademarks which are similar to the names of the wine made in Mainland China to prevent the public from mistaking the wine made locally for the wine made in Mainland China.  The Supreme Administrative Court also gave an opinion supporting the MOEA’s practice in a judgment.

The MOEA stated that a trademark shall not be granted registration, under Article 37 of the Trademark Law, if the trademark is likely to cause the public to misidentify or erroneously believe in the nature, quality or place of origin of the goods. Therefore, although the trademarks used on the wine made in Mainland China are not filed for registration in Taiwan, the applications for registration of trademarks used on the wine made by Taiwanese wineries and similar to those used on the wine made in Mainland China shall be considered violating Article 37 of the Trademark Law if the wine made by Taiwanese wineries enables consumers to misidentify the wine as possibly coming from Mainland China. Such trademarks shall not be granted registration.

Source: China Times 01/02/2002