NTU settles trademark dispute with local cram school

　A local cram school near Taipei Main Station was sued by National Taiwan University (hereinafter “NTU”) in 2022 for infringing NTU’s trademark rights by using the two Chinese characters, “台大” (transliteration “taida”) as part of its name and signage, while NTU had already registered the two Chinese characters, “台大“ and “TAIDA” as trademarks.  The court ruled in favor of NTU in the first instance proceedings and ordered that the cram school should pay NTU TWD6.23 million and never use the said Chinese-character trademark, “台大” (hereinafter the “Chinese-character mark”).  This judgment is appealable.  Now NTU has confirmed that both parties have reached a settlement on condition that the cram school should remove and change all the signage or web pages including the Chinese-character mark before the end of 2024.  

　The cram school has removed the Chinese-character mark from its website.  Also, in a statement on its webpage, the cram school stated that after years of litigation, it has decided to respect NTU’s trademark rights and change its name.  

　NTU has successively registered multiple trademarks since 1983, including its school emblem, the Chinese-character trademarks, “臺大”, “台大”, “國立臺灣大學” (meaning “National Taiwan University”), and “NTU”, “TAIDA”.  All of these registered trademarks have been repeatedly recognized by the TIPO and the court as well-known ones in Taiwan.  However, there has been a misconception for decades that NTU’s school name may be used without authorization, but it is not true.  In recent years, there have been instances of unauthorized use of NTU’s trademarks by, such as, real estate developers and gas stations, for which NTU issued letters to them to formally request for cease of using its trademarks.  Such a demand is based on the fact that NTU’s brand identity and image are the result of the efforts by its faculty and students for years, and the value of its trademarks is comparable to that of globally recognized corporations and should not be exploited for commercial gains.  (Released 2024.12.07)  
/CCS