TIPO Rules “Paddy” and “Rice Related Foods” Not Similar

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TIPO Rules “Paddy” and “Rice Related Foods” Not Similar

20 November 2012

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Organization ruled recently that, in the Manual of the Goods and Services classifications in Taiwan, “paddy” and “rice related food” are not deemed similar goods, although they are in the same class, according to a release issued by Jaw-Hwa International Patent & Trademark & Law Offices in Taipei.

However, according to the official decisions for two invalidation applications in the TIPO recently, the registered trademark “間稻” which designated “rice related food” in class 30, was deemed similar to a prior registered trademark “鴨間稻” which designated “paddy” in class 30, since the main ingredients of the “rice related food” are “paddy”. Both kinds of products have relationship on their purposes, functions, producers, sales channels, etc. Therefore, the said “間稻” registrations were invalidated according to the Article 23.I(14) of the Trademark Act.

“However, these are special cases made by the TIPO,” say lawyers at Jaw-Hwa. “It is not necessary that the TIPO [will] follow this principle in the future cases.”