Taiwan Trademark 101 Series, What Should I Do When My Trademark Has a Likelihood of Confusion Problem?
Written by: James Y. Chang
Attorney-at-Law
1. Preamble
The competent authority found that the application for the trademark registration had a likelihood of confusion existing between the two trademarks by physical examinations and the application should be rejected. Before rendering a disposition of refusal pursuant to the preceding paragraph, a written notice stating grounds for refusal shall be given to the applicant, who may make following observations on the intended refusal within the prescribed period[1].
2. Restriction of the Designated Goods or Services
According to the Article 23 and 38 of the Trademark Act, no amendments shall be made unless such amendment is a restriction of designated goods or services. The restriction of goods may be made by deleting some of the designated goods, by changing a broader range of general goods to specific particular goods, for instance, cosmetics to lipsticks, or by defining the specification to particular goods of interest the applications of the goods, for instance, vaporizers to vaporizers for industrial use[2].
3. Request to Divide Application