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IP Court Support IP Court Support Non-Infringement once Goods Marketed Earlier to Registration of Claimed Trademark
Article 98 of the Trademark Act stipulates that all articles or documents that constitute infringement of rights in trademark, certification mark, or collective trademark shall be confiscated, regardless of whether such articles or documents belong to the offender. Under this new revision, even if the offender is not found guilty according to the Trademark Act, the seized infringing goods should be still declared confiscated and then destroyed by the court.
The key issue is what goods will be deemed as infringing goods.
The Intellectual Property Court held in 2017 in an appeal case that a trademark will have an exclusive right only from the registration date when its registration is granted. Since the seized goods were manufactured and marketed in Taiwan prior to the registration date of the trademark based on which a criminal complaints was filed against the offender according to the Trademark Act, such goods should not be deemed infringing goods even if after the registration is granted and therefore cannot be confiscated.