Taiwan’s IP Office Rejected HYUNDAI’s Trademark Application for “eGV80”

For its new electric SUV lineup, HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY (“HYUNDAI”) filed trademark application for “eGV80” on September 25, 2019 (application no. 108063273, see below), designated for goods in Class 12, including automobile, truck, electric car, hybrid electric vehicle, sports car, sport utility vehicle, and hydrogen fuel cell electric car.

However, Taiwan’s IP Office (“IPO”) denied HYUNDAI’s application, finding “eGV80” not distinctive.

According to Article 29.1.3 of Trademark Act, a trademark that consists of signs that are devoid of any distinctiveness shall not be registered. In this regard, a sign consisting of character and number usually will be perceived as standard, model name, or specification of product or service. For example, when seeing “4WD” used on cars, consumers would think of 4-Wheel Drive. When seeing “MP3” used on music player, consumers would know it refers to “MPEG Audio Layer-3”. When seeing “512MB” used on memory card, consumers would understand it means the memory capacity.

Here, IPO found HYUNDAI’s application “eGV80” consisting of “eGV” and “80”, which is pure combination of character and number. Such combination, when used for automobile, truck, electric car, hybrid electric vehicle, sports car, sport utility vehicle, and hydrogen fuel cell electric car, will be understood as the standard or model name of the vehicle, rather than distinctive sign indicating the source of goods or service provided. Thus, IPO found HYUNDAI’s application shall be denied in accordance with Article 29.1.3 of Trademark Act.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that HYUNDAI’s applications for its “eGV70” (application no. 108063276) and “eG80” (application no. 108063278) were also denied by IPO based on similar legal basis (i.e., Article 29.1.3). We shall see if HYUNDAI would challenge IPO’s rejections and appeal to the Petitions and Appeals Committee of Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Source: https://twtmsearch.tipo.gov.tw/OS0/OS0401_SCN3.jsp?issueNo=XpJ13RyT4ME1FRmdBZjFTSXJLaDlDWXd0YXZGZz09&l6=zh_TW&isReadBulletinen_US=&isReadBulletinzh_TW=true (eGV80)

https://twtmsearch.tipo.gov.tw/OS0/OS0401_SCN3.jsp?issueNo=XpJ13RyT4ME1FRmdBZjFTSXJ4TWNIODg4Uk1Wdz09&l6=zh_TW&isReadBulletinen_US=&isReadBulletinzh_TW=true (eGV70)

https://twtmsearch.tipo.gov.tw/OS0/OS0401_SCN3.jsp?issueNo=XpJ13RyT4ME1FRmdBZjFTSW8wanBUR3FwQ2FoZz09&l6=zh_TW&isReadBulletinen_US=&isReadBulletinzh_TW=true(eG80)