經通國際智慧產權事務所

The Sunrider Cooperation, which sells herbal supplements and cosmetics, accused its former distributors, Mr. and Mrs. Chen, for stealing the trade secret and founding another company, Bountiful Healthcare Company. As Bountiful healthcare makes similar products, the trademark of Sunrider is infringed. Taipei District Court judged that Bountiful Healthcare and the owner should jointly pay 2.25 million dollars as compensation to Sunrider. However, Bountiful Healthcare said they would file an appeal.

Sunrider indicated that it had applied for many trademarks 28 years ago, included “LIFESTREAM”, “(Chinese characters) Green”, and so on. Mr. and Mrs. Chen were its former distributors, and they established Bountiful Healthcare after they resigned. They imitated Sunrider’s direct marketing manners to sell similar herbal products under the similar trademarks like “(Chinese characters) LIVESTREAM” and “(Chinese characters) HomeGreen,” by which taking a free-ride of Sunrider’s reputation. It caused confusion to the relevant consumers and infringed Sunrider’s trademark rights.

On the other hand, Bountiful Healthcare denied the accusation of infringing Sunrider’s trademark rights. It argued that it emphasized the Chinese names of its goods, rather than the English names. Bountiful Healthcare also refused to pay for damages as it insisted that its trademarks were different from Sunrider’s.

Comparing both parties trademarks, the Court decided Bountiful Healthcare’s mark “(Chinese characters) HomeGreen” is similar to Sunrider’s “(Chinese characters) Green” both in pronunciation and conception. Thus, it was indeed that Bountiful Healthcare has infringed Sunrider’s trademark right. Bountiful Healthcare and its owner must pay 2.25 million dollars to Sunrider. The decision was issued by Taipei District Court at June 17, 2011.

Organized and translated by Eunice Yang

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