經通國際智慧產權事務所

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) will carry out major amendments of the Trademark Act to accept scent and motion trademark applications. “The amendments will be submitted to Executive Yuan for approval no later than the end of Jan. 2010,” said by a regarded official.

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office noted that during recent years, industrial and commercial enterprises have been developing rapidly while the commercial transaction patterns have become vibrant and multiform. Thus, a number of provisions of Trademark Act have become inadequate. And the proposed amendments will significantly amend the existing articles and further expand the existing 92 articles to 109 articles.

The said amendments mainly focus on expanding the categories of regulated trademark rights. The regarded official noted that scent and motion trademarks are allowed to be registered in countries with more advanced trademark practices, such as European countries and United States. For example, trademark rights have been granted to an European manufacture producing tennis balls with grass scent and an U.S. manufacturer producing cotton threads with flowery scent.

Nevertheless, the regarded official also emphasized the difficulty of registering a scent or motion trademark because the required distinctiveness should be concretely established by long-term use.

Currently, about 70% of trademark applications in Taiwan are of ordinary 2-dimensional trademarks and the remaining applications are mostly of 3-dimensional trademarks such as packages of goods. However, the TIPO will encourage applicants to file scent and motion trademark applications after the said amendments are passed.

Organized and translated by Jenny Yu

International Affairs