On September 21, 2026, in an trademark
opposition initiated by Rolex SA (“Rolex”), Taiwan’s IP Office (“TIPO”) ruled in
the favor of Swiss luxury watchmaker, cancelling the contested trademark “劳迪士” upon finding likelihood
of confusion with Rolex’s iconic “勞力士” trademark in Taiwan (Reg. No. 00162779, see below).
The contested trademark, “劳迪士” (Reg. No.
02446047, see below), was filed on September 9, 2024, and registered on April
1, 2025. The mark was designated for use in Class 35 services, including advertising,
marketing, market research, recruitment, product display for retails, etc.
Rolex filed opposition on June 26, 2025, alleging that registration of the
contested trademark violated Articles 30.1.10, 30.1.11, 30.1.12 of Trademark
Act.
1.
TIPO firstly affirmed that Rolex’s
“勞力士” (i.e., the Chinese transliteration of “Rolex”) has established
strong brand recognition in Taiwan. According to the voluminous records submitted
by Rolex, including its worldwide trademark registrations, product sales,
marketing materials , news reports (e.g., on BAZAAR, VOGUE, ELLE, ET FASHION, etc.),
and TIPO’s prior determinations, “勞力士” has been a strong brand among ordinary consumers in Taiwan.
2.
TIPO further noted that “劳迪士” and “勞力士” are quite
similar to each other. Both share the same initial letter “劳/勞” and end with the
same letter “士”. The pronunciation of “迪” (“[di]”) also resembles that of “力” (“[li]”),
making the contested trademark “劳迪士” ([lao-di-shi]) visually and phonetically similar to Rolex’s
“勞力士” ([lao-li-shi]).
3.
Meanwhile, TIPO found Rolex’s “勞力士” covered similar services
in areas such as marketing, advertisement design, art design for advertisement,
and market research. In other words, the designated services of the two
trademarks overlap with each other.
4.
In view of the above, given the
similarity of the trademarks, the strong brand recognition of “勞力士” in Taiwan, and
the overlap of designated services in Class 35, TIPO concluded that the registration
of “劳迪士” would cause confusion with Rolex’s “勞力士”. The contested trademark was
cancelled accordingly.
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