The Tsing Beer Chinese-Character Mark (青啤) Meaning Draft Beer in Taiwanese Is Denied Registration for Good.

Taiwan Tsing Beer Co., Ltd., one of the Sanyo Waisbih Group companies ("TTBC") applied in September 2008 for registration of the Tsing Beer Chinese-character mark designating the mark to be used on red and white wine products, sorghum liquor products, whisky products and alcohols other than beer.  Taiwan IPO disapproved the registration TTBC sought for.  After challenging Taiwan IPO's disapproval of the mark without avail, TTBC brought the matter to the IP Court and the disapproval of the mark was reverted in December 2012 to Taiwan IPO for re-decision.  Maintaining its finding of the mark being non-registrable, Taiwan IPO took an appeal and its disapproval of the mark irrevocably sustains. (Supreme Administrative Court's 102-Pan-Zi No. 384 judgment of 25 June 2013)
 
Taiwan IPO finds that the disputed mark when pronounced in Taiwanese means draft beer and in consideration of the trademark regime being territory-oriented, the sound and meaning of Tsing (the first Chinese character of the disputed mark) as locally familiar must be taken into account.  When pronounced in Taiwanese, Tsing means raw or fresh and when it is used followed by the Chinese character啤which means beer, the two words form the generic term meaning draft beer.  In short, the disputed mark as is used in Taiwan is a generic descriptive term and when this term is put to use on goods other than beer products, the consumer will very likely mistake the product bearing the mark for a draft beer product.  Pursuant to subparagraph 11 of paragraph one of Article 23 of the pre-amendment Trademark Act applicable to this case, the disputed mark is non-registrable and TTBC's trademark application is therefore dismissed.

Reverting Taiwan IPO's disapproval of the mark, the IP Court holds that the consumer can easily identify the kind of alcohol product he or she is looking to buy and will not mistake the product labeled with the mark in question for a draft beer product.  The IP Court reasons that the mark in question is designated to be used on alcohol products with higher alcohol content which are sold at higher prices as opposed to beer products.  According to the IP Court, alcohol products with high alcohol content and marketed under various labels are generally sorted into the same product group and displayed for sale at the same special area in the store.  In addition to their unique packaging design made to feature them, alcohol products sold at higher prices are usually bear an external packaging case or box to manifest their value.  In contrast, beer products given their relatively inexpensive price and not being preservable are sorted collectively and displayed at the same spot in the store separate from the other alcohol products.  As such, it is unlikely for the consumer to mistake the product sold under the mark in question for a draft beer product.

On Taiwan IPO's appeal from the IP Court judgment, the SAC sustains Taiwan IPO's disapproval of the mark finding that the IP Court fails to consider the ordinary consumer's point of view when looking into the pictorial and literal design of the mark in question as a whole as well as its concept and sound to determine if there is likelihood of the consumer being misled or forming mistaken belief with respect to the property, quality or origin of the goods or service provided under the mark.  (July 2013)
/EMA