Application for “LINECAST” Was Denied By Taiwan’s IP Office Due To Similarity With “LINE”

Taiwan’s IP Office (TIPO) denied LINECAST Inc.’s trademark application for “LINECAST” on October 13, 2020, citing violation of Article 30.1.10 of Trademark Act.

The denied trademark application (Application No. 109005347, see below) was filed on January 30, 2020, designated for use in services including podcast transmission, voice mail transmission, internet communication link, online chatting room, data storage, and video teleconference communications. 

TIPO denied LINECAST Inc.’s application based on the following reasons:

1.    Article 30.1.10 of Trademark Act provides that a trademark shall not be registered if such mark is identical with or similar to another person’s registered trademark or earlier filed trademark and to be applied for goods or services identical with or similar to those for which the registered trademark is protected or the earlier filed trademark is designated, and hence there exists a likelihood of confusion on relevant consumers.

2.  In this case, TIPO found “LINECAST” similar with “LINE” (see below), which is the trademark held by LINE Corp., the famous mobile messaging platform. TIPO, upon comparing “LINECAST” against “LINE”, determined that “LINE” constitutes the distinctive portion of “LINECAST”, and that “LINECAST” is similar with “LINE” on visual, verbal, and conceptual aspects. 

                (No. 01740113 & 02051287)          (No. 02051286 & 01582653)

3.  Additionally, since LINE Corp.’s “LINE” is also designated for use in relevant services such as webcast, digital image transmission, online chatting room information transmission, mobile communication transmission, multimedia instant transmission, and application of internet telephone communication for smart phone and tablet. These services serve similar functions and are related to services that “LINECAST” was applied for use.

4.  With regard to strength of trademark, TIPO noted that LINE Corp. started providing its mobile messaging service on 2011, and its “LINE” trademarks have been used and recognized by millions of users across the globe. In Taiwan, there are about 17 million registered accounts, and “LINE” has become famous among users due to LINE Corp.’s continuous marketing and promotion in Taiwan market. Thus, TIPO determined that “LINE” has become a well-known trademark, and demonstrated more distinctiveness than LINECAST Inc.’s “LINECAST”.

5.  Given the similarity between “LINE” and ”LINECAST”, the similarity between the service designated by “LINE” and that by “LINECAST”, and the high distinctiveness and well-known status of LINE Corp.’s “LINE”, TIPO found registration of “LINECAST” may cause confusion among relevant consumers, and denied the application accordingly.

 

Source: https://twtmsearch.tipo.gov.tw/OS0/OS0401_SCN3.jsp?issueNo=XpJ13RyT4SGFjZGROTnpqL3dXUFRCNXVXcXBTdz09&l6=zh_TW&isReadBulletinen_US=&isReadBulletinzh_TW=true