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According to the Trademark Act, if the designated goods or services of the trademark registration application are similar to the ones of the prior application or registration of the trademarks, the application should be rejected. Nonetheless, it will be allowed for deletion or restriction of the conflicting designated goods or services before the Intellectual Property Office rejects the trademark application so as to seek for registration approval.
It has been an issue whether the deletion or restriction of the designated goods or services will be still allowed during the proceedings of the administrative appeal or the administrative suit after the IPO rejects the application. The Intellectual Property Court had agreed to the deletion or restriction of the conflicting goods or services in the past for some cases once the trademark application should be approved after such deletion or restriction. Nonetheless, the IP Court had changed its opinion.
The IP Court pointed out in an administrative judgment for trademark registration case in 2012 that the amendments to the Trademark Act effective on 1 July 2013 has explicitly prohibited any deletion or restriction of the designated goods or services after the IPO rejects the trademark registration application. In accordance with the newly amended provisions, the IP Court held the review that any deletion or restriction of the designated goods or services should not be allowed during the proceedings of the administrative appeal or the administrative suit.
