Taiwan’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court sided with LOUIS VUITTON in its infringement action against MF Production Co.

On March 27, 2024, Taiwan’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court (“TIPC”) found for the French fashion giant LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER (“LV”), finding products sold by MF Production Co. (“MF”) infringed upon LV’s well-known trademarks (see below).

The defendant, MF, is a company that provides retail service for apparel and accessories. According to LV, MF uses logos and patterns that are highly similar with LV’s trademarks, and thus should be held responsible for trademark infringement. MF argues that its use of similar logos and marks are all of parody use (see below), and should be exempted from trademark infringement. TIPC disagrees.

In its judgment, TIPC firstly finds that the logos and marks used by MF on its products are all highly similar with LV’s asserted trademarks. Additionally, since LV’s asserted trademarks are well-known and have been used in a variety of kinds of goods, it is likely that consumers will be confused and mistakenly believe that products offered by MF are originated from LV.

As to MF’s defense of parody use, the court holds that to successfully raise parody use as defense, defendant must show that its use “manifests that the products have no relationship with LV’s trademark”, and that “consumers could, upon seeing defendant’s products, immediately understand that the products aim to tease, ridicule, or mock LV’s trademark.” After examining MF’s accused products, the court concludes that MF’s use does not constitute parody, because LV’s trademarks are all placed in the central or most dominant position, and consumers could hardly notice the accused products are MF’s, not LV’s. Besides, the court could find no sense of teasing or mocking based on MF’s use. Therefore, MF’s defense based on parody fails, and the court rules that MF is liable for infringing LV’s famous trademarks. MF is subject to injunction, and shall compensate LV for damages roughly NT$ 6.6 million.

Source: https://judgment.judicial.gov.tw/FJUD/data.aspx?ty=JD&id=IPCV,111%2c%e6%b0%91%e5%95%86%e8%a8%b4%2c35%2c20240327%2c1 (111-Ming-Shang-Su-Zi No. 35, IPC Court)