"Legochempharma"
摘要
Article 34, para. 1, Item 11 of the Trademark Act aims to safeguard the economic value embedded in well-known trademarks, including factors such as customer attraction or sales influence, by prohibiting the registration of trademarks that, while they may not necessarily cause customers to be deceived or confused as to the source of goods, nonetheless have the potential to impair the distinctiveness or reputation of the well-known trademarks. The term “potential to impair the distinctiveness,” in this context, refers to any possibility of impairing the indicating capability that another person’s well-known trademark possesses as the single source of goods or the unique association of the said well-known trademark with a specific source of goods. The determination of whether the trademark that is the subject of an invalidation trial possesses the potential to impair the distinctiveness of another person’s well-known trademark as stipulated in Art. 34, para. 1, Item 11 of the Trademark Act, must be conducted by comprehensively considering factors such as the degree of similarity between the registered trademark at issue and the well-known trademark, the inherent distinctiveness of the well-known trademark, the applicant’s intention to create an association between the registered trademark at issue and the well-known trademark, and whether such an associative effect has indeed materialized.