Audi Loses in the Lawsuit of Trademark Dispute
2011/11/21 TaiwanAudi AG, the globally renowned car manufacturer, applied for the trademark registration of “Vorsprung durch Technik” in Taiwan. However, the Supreme Administrative Court deemed that Audi’s trademark was devoid of any distinctive character and ruled against Audi AG.
In 2009, Audi AG filed the application of ”Vorsprung durch Technik” with the designated goods and services of sport cars, wagons, racing cars, briefcases, handbags, motor vehicle maintenance and repair, and so on. Due to TIPO’s examination, this trademark means “leading with technology” in Chinese, which is to advertise Audi’s goods and services. The relevant consumers cannot recognize the origins of the goods and services with this descriptive and non-distinctive mark. Thus, Audi AG’s trademark registration was rejected.
Audi AG claimed that the mark ”Vorsprung durch Technik” was invented by Audi, and it is the symbol showing that world-wide famous Audi cars are the masterpieces of Germany’s high technology. Moreover, the word “Vorsprung” represents the uniqueness of Audi’s products, and there is not any English word synonymous with it.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Administrative court states that the Audi AG’s trademark advertised the high quality of Audi’s goods and services. For Taiwanese who are not familiar with German, it would be difficult for them to understand the meaning of this German trademark. Consequently, Audi AG’s trademark application was rejected. This decision was issued on July 21, 2011.
Organized and translated by Dano Yi
International Affairs
