HASHTAG 從元標籤到商標使用之發展與爭議探討

Abstract

隨著網路時代的發展，Hashtag（主題標籤; 下稱Hashtag）在各社群網路平台上的使用日益增加，於各種商品或服務之推廣與行銷上，成為品牌業者廣泛使用之指示商品或服務來源之工具。Hashtag作為一種「可見元標籤」，不僅具有「超連結」之功能，亦具有類似「網域名稱」及「關鍵字廣告」之功能，然而其與前述三者之性質仍有所差異，因此於涉及網路商標使用之討論時，需單獨針對Hashtag所涉之商標法上爭議進行討論。\n又儘管於各界仍存有不少爭議，然以現今商標法規範以及實務之發展，可得知申請人已可將Hashtag註冊為商標，惟觀察歷來之法院判決中僅有Eksouzian v. Albanese案曾針對Hashtag之商標適格性做出見解，其餘則多聚焦於「商標使用」之層面進行探討，可知其「商標使用」，係於現階段更具重要性之問題。\n本文即以Hashtag之商標使用所衍生之爭議案例進行分析，並輔以近年國際上對於「可見元標籤」之商標侵權議題之研討，試圖歸納出其作為商標使用後將對社群網站中之業者與消費者帶來之影響，進而給予雙方使用上之建議。

With the development of the Internet era, hashtag is increasingly used in various social network platforms. It has become a widely used tool for brands to indicate the source of goods or service in promotion and marketing. Hashtag, viewed as a kind of “visible” meta tag, not only provides the function as “hyperlink”, but also has similar functions to “domain names” and “keywords”. However, there are still differences between hashtag and the others. Therefore, when discussing the use of trademark on the Internet and the possible trademark law disputes arising from it, we need to separate the discussion of Hashtag from others.\nDespite various controversies, with the development of current trademark law and practice, applicants can apply for trademark registration of Hashtag. However, only one case, Eksouzian v. Albanese, has decided on the trademark eligibility of hashtags ,. Instead, the rest of the courts have focused on “the use of hashtag as trademark”, which seems to be a more important issue to deal with at this stage.\nThis paper tries to analyze the dispute arising from the use of Hashtag as trademark, supplemented by the recent international seminar discussion on the “visible meta tag” trademark infringement issue. Furthermore, this paper also tries to explore the impact of “hashtag being used as trademark” on brands and consumers in social networking sites, and provide suggestions on the use of it.