Trademark Squatting Registrants Over Well-known Marks with Characters such as “Zhong Hua” and “Taiwan” – A Key Issue in the Cross-strait Trademark Seminar.

　The 2008 Cross-strait Trademark Seminar was held in Chengdu, China.  Wang Mei-Hua, director general of the Intellectual Property Office, urged mainland China to approve those well-known Taiwan trademarks using Chinese characters “Chunghwa” and “Taiwan” including Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation (TTL) to be registered in the mainland.  Taiwan also expects China to actively handle the outflanked Chinese trademark registrations of famous Taiwan geographical designation.

　Non-governmental organizations called for regular cross-strait trademark seminars periodically.  The Chinese Commercial and Industrial Coordination Society (CCICS) represented China, and the China Trademark Association (CTA) represented Taiwan to participate the forum.  Issues discussed in the forum included “Future Evolution of Trademark Act”, “Non-traditional Trademark Examinations and Practices”, “Conflicts between Company Names Trademarks”, and “Workable System to Stop Trademark Squatting Registrants”.

　The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) indicated that owing to growing cross-strait trade and travel (among others), the issue that draws most attention between the straits is on how to prevent trademark squatting registrants, the majority of squatting cases in Taiwan involving famous or well-known trademarks from mainland China have been successfully resolved.  Because of these successes, the Taiwanese delegation requested similar levels of protection toward Taiwanese well-known trademarks on the mainland.

　TIPO also pointed out Tzu Chi Foundation as an example.  Tzu Chi foundation, an internationally-known humanitarian organization which has been a victim of trademark squatting on the mainland.  Because of Tzu Chi’s positive reputation and the charity work they have done in Taiwan, mainland China and the world, the TIPO urged mainland China to classify Tzu Chi as a famous trademark, thus ensuring it a greater level of protection.  The delegation from mainland China outlined the efforts they have made to combat squatting against Taiwanese well-known geographic name as trademark such as Lishan, Alishan tea, Sun Moon Lake, Chihshang rice, and Gukeng coffee, all of which have been revoked on the mainland.

　Another issue raised by the Taiwanese representatives was the difficulty of registering trademarks with characters such as “Zhong Hua”, “China”, and “Taiwan” by Taiwanese companies on the mainland, noting that these businesses have yet to receive approval for any of these marks in China.  The Chinese side indicated that difficulties lie in both the operation of the Trademark Act and the examination of the trademark applications in China.

　On the matter of mutual recognition of trademark priority rights, both sides acknowledged the present challenges of reaching a consensus due to its connection to cross-strait policy and other practical considerations.  Both sides agreed to make the issue a priority in future meetings.  (2008.11)

/DC