“NIVEA” prevailed in trademark opposition against “NEVA”

On May 28, 2025, Taiwan’s IP Office (“TIPO”) sided with BEIERSDORF AG, cancelling the contested trademark “NEVA” for its similarity with the well-known German skin care brand “NIVEA” (No. 0039212, No. 0384064, No. 01316235, No. 01790601, No.01521516, and No. 02252012, all see below ).

The contested trademark, “NEVA” (No. 02394613, see below), was filed on January 12, 2024 by a Shenzhen-based company Mun-Chia-Fan Tech. Ltd. (“MCF”), and was granted on August 16, 2024. It covered goods in Class 3, including moisturizing lotion, detergent, cosmetics, fragrance, toothpaste, beauty mask, etc. BEIERSDORF filed opposition on November 12, 2024, citing violations of Articles 30.1.10 and 30.1.11 of Trademark Act.

TIPO ruled in the favor of “NIVEA”, cancelling “NEVA” based on Article 30.1.11 of Trademark Act. Its reasoning was as follows:

1.        Article 30.1.11 of Trademark Act provides that a mark shall not be registered if such a mark is similar to another person’s well-known trademark or mark, and hence there exists likelihood of confusion among the relevant consumers, or likelihood of dilution of distinctiveness or harm to the reputation of such well-known trademark or mark.

2.        Here, TIPO noted that BEIERSDORF’s “NIVEA” has been recognized as a well-known trademark in several TIPO’s prior determinations in 2019 and 2022. Besides, in 2019, the well-known status of “NIVEA” was also affirmed by Taiwan’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court. According to the evidence of use, TIPO also found that BEIERSDORF has been continuously using “NIVEA” in the sale and promotion of its skin and body care products. TIPO thus was convinced that “NIVEA” was already well-known in the fields of cosmetics and skin care products when MCF filed the contested trademark.

3.        On similarity, TIPO found the contested trademark visually and phonetically similar to BEIERSDORF’s “NIVEA”. Both feature the same letters “N”, E“, “V”, and “A”, start with letter “N” and end with letter “A”, and share similar structure, sequence, and pronunciation.

4.        Considering the well-known status and inherent distinctiveness of “NIVEA”, TIPO opined BEIERSDORF’s should be more recognizable among the relevant consumers. To the contrary, MCF did not submit any evidence of trademark use to demonstrate the fame of its contested trademark.

5.        Although the designated products were not totally identical, TIPO found them related. For example, moisturizing lotion, fragrance, beauty mask, and cosmetics covered by the “NEVA” trademark serve personal hygiene and beauty purposes, which overlap with the product scope covered by the well-known “NIVEA”.

In view of the above, TIPO concluded that given the well-known status of “NIVEA”, the similarity between “NIVEA” and “NEVA”, the strong brand recognition of “NIVEA”, and the overlap of designated products, registration of “NEVA” could cause confusion. Thus, the contested trademark was cancelled accordingly.

 

Source: https://cloud.tipo.gov.tw/S282/S282WV1/#/written-result-details/disposition?issueKey=doNRI%2BOhCc4Sp%2FsNOwxunMAXU2dCAMkA%2BXXx