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Intellectual Property and Commercial Court

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2012 Xing Zhi Shang Yi Zi 47

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Decision No. 2012 Xing Chi Shang I Zi 47
Date July 11, 2012
Decision Highlight

While a business owner purchased a keyword commercial and utilized trademarks of other business entities in order to have its website information be searched by search engines and to induce potential clients to enter its website, such behavior by the business owner who utilized the keyword commercial may damage the diligent efforts for economical fruits associated behind the famous trade dress or business reputation of other business entities, and thereby affect the order of the fair competition in the market; however, if the goods or services promoted in the content of its website do not use said trademarks, the Internet users will not necessarily consider or confuse the goods or services promoted in the content of the commercial with the goods or services provided by the trademark owners; as a result, such behavior will be deemed as one that does not use the trademarks, and therefore, no trademark infringement is constituted accordingly. Even in the case that the goods or services promoted in the content of the website did use said trademarks, because in general, the reason that the Internet users search goods or service by keywords through the search engines to obtain results, is to locate the business entity that sell the goods or provides the services, but whether the users will thereby proceed a trade with the business entity shall still depend upon whether the goods or services provided by the business entity do match the subjects to be purchased, therefore, if the goods or services provided by the business entity are genuine ones manufactured, provided or licensed by the trademark owners, the consumers will thus not confuse or mistake the distinctiveness of the source of the goods or services that were traded on site, and again, no trademark infringement is constituted accordingly.

Relevant statutes Article 81, Sub-Paragraphs 1, 3, Article 82 of the Former Trademark Act (Article 95, Sub-Paragraphs 1, 3, Article 97 of the Current Trademark Act)
  • Release Date:2020-11-13
  • Update:2020-12-03
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