A STUDY ON THE SCOPE OF TRADEMARK PROTECTION BASED IN “LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION”: A COMPARISON BETWEEN TAIWAN AND US COURT DECISIONS

• Main Authors: TING, CHUN-PING, 丁俊萍
• Other Authors: Shieh, Ming-Yan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/smq8ff

碩士 === 東吳大學 === 法律學系 === 102 === The original meaning of “trademark” is that any mark, capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings, shall be capable of constituting a trademark. Thus, the trademark law concerns not only the right of the trademark owner, but also the consumer benefit. Accordingly, the determination of “likelihood confusion” is one of the most important cores in the trademark law. In Taiwan, “likelihood confusion” is not only the requirement for obtaining trademark right, but also the subjective elements of infringement. According to article 95 of Taiwan trademark law, “likelihood confusion” may constitute trademark infringement and may be liable to imprisonment for a period and/or a fine. Thus, “likelihood confusion” is one of the rejection reasons for obtaining the trademark right in administrative examination and also is a main requirement for judging the trademark infringement in civil and criminal lawsuit. When searching for “likelihood confusion” in trademark law, there are total eight articles. If counting the applicable articles, there should be more articles. The definition and scope of the “likelihood confusion” may be various, thus the current study is seeking for the clarification the definition and the scope. The study provides the comparison of the trademark law and cases between Taiwan and US, so as to distinct the difference for the determination of “likelihood confusion” in administrative examination, civil and criminal lawsuit. Furthermore, the current study wishes to provide suggestions for examination or law amendment in the future, so as to provide a reasonable protection scope of trademark for businesses in Taiwan.