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The proprietor of a registered trademark is entitled to demand a person who infringes or is likely to infringe the trademark rights to cease or prevent such infringement; the proprietor is entitled to demand the infringer who knowingly, or with reasonable grounds to know, infringed such trademark rights to pay the proprietor damages, as stipulated in Article 69 of the Trademark Act. With respect to the right to claim damages, the Trademark Act explicitly restricts the time limit within which such legal proceedings may be brought. In other words, the right to claim damages shall become extinguished if not exercised within two years from the date on which the proprietor become aware of the damages and the person liable for damages. This right shall also become extinguished if it is not exercised within ten years from the time of infringement. However, as the Trademark Act does not specifically stipulates any time limit for claims for ceasing or preventing such infringements, it is quite controversial in practice if there is any time limit on injunctions against trademark infringements.
By referring to a civil judgment in 2008 of the Supreme Court on a civil action, the Intellectual Property Court concludes in its Judgment in 2012 on a trademark infringement that where there is an infringement or the risk of an infringement exists, a trademark proprietor may exercise his/her right to demand the infringing party to cease and prevent such an act. There is not time limit applicable to such a claim for injunctions.
