News
COA takes action on imitation of Taiwan tea Brand registered in China
2006-02-13
According to the Council of Agriculture (COA), the name of famous tea growing areas in Taiwan, also known as the tea brand, such as Lishan, Xitou, Sanlinxi, Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, Jade Mountain etc, has been registered in China by particular persons. This has severely affected the rights of Taiwan tea producers who sell to China. Moreover, counterfeits of premium Taiwan teas may be dumped to Taiwan at low prices. The COA expressed serious concern about this matter and held a joint meeting on January 17 with the Mainland Affairs Council, Intellectual Property Office MOEA, and tea industry organizations to discuss measures handling the issue.
According to COA, the Mainland Affairs Council will coordinate with SEF to express the claims of domestic tea farmers to ARATS and ask help for the Trademark Bureau of China to withdraw such trademarks. Moreover, the Taiwan Tea Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) will represent the affected tea farmers to apply with the China Bureau Evaluation Committee to withdraw such trademarks. If such application is overruled, the TTMA will take legal action through the People’s Court of China according to the China's legal system to solve the case through litigations. If the results of litigations are unfavorable for domestic tea farmers, the government will initiate a bilateral communication through the WTO in order to seek a resolution on this matter through negotiations by trade representatives from both parties under the WTO framework. For trademarks registered in China by domestic tea farmers, we will ask the TTMA and the Taiwan Province Tea Manufacturers’ Association to request their members to withdraw such trademarks in China automatically.
The COA said that to ensure that consumers could identify the place of origin of teas, and to prevent premium Formosan teas from imitation and sold as China products or products from other countries, COA will guide the local governments of tea growing areas to create logos like that of the Chinshang Rice and register them at the IPO in order to protect the benefits of tea farmers since the logos would show the production area and output.
COA stressed that other local specialties of Taiwan, including agricultural and fishery products, that have been registered in China will also be treated in the same manner. All agency who attended the meeting agreed unanimously that a mechanism should be established through SEF and ARATS in the long run. That mechanism will handle effective cross-Strait communications and negotiations on matters relating to IP rights protection for Taiwan agricultural and fishery products in China.
According to COA, the Mainland Affairs Council will coordinate with SEF to express the claims of domestic tea farmers to ARATS and ask help for the Trademark Bureau of China to withdraw such trademarks. Moreover, the Taiwan Tea Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) will represent the affected tea farmers to apply with the China Bureau Evaluation Committee to withdraw such trademarks. If such application is overruled, the TTMA will take legal action through the People’s Court of China according to the China's legal system to solve the case through litigations. If the results of litigations are unfavorable for domestic tea farmers, the government will initiate a bilateral communication through the WTO in order to seek a resolution on this matter through negotiations by trade representatives from both parties under the WTO framework. For trademarks registered in China by domestic tea farmers, we will ask the TTMA and the Taiwan Province Tea Manufacturers’ Association to request their members to withdraw such trademarks in China automatically.
The COA said that to ensure that consumers could identify the place of origin of teas, and to prevent premium Formosan teas from imitation and sold as China products or products from other countries, COA will guide the local governments of tea growing areas to create logos like that of the Chinshang Rice and register them at the IPO in order to protect the benefits of tea farmers since the logos would show the production area and output.
COA stressed that other local specialties of Taiwan, including agricultural and fishery products, that have been registered in China will also be treated in the same manner. All agency who attended the meeting agreed unanimously that a mechanism should be established through SEF and ARATS in the long run. That mechanism will handle effective cross-Strait communications and negotiations on matters relating to IP rights protection for Taiwan agricultural and fishery products in China.
