從國際間對商標減損規範看智財法院Intel案判決與商標法修正

Abstract

著名商標之保護，乃係商標法中最富爭議的一個問題。由於國際貿易之發達與網路商務平台之興起，著名商標往往在還沒有於各國家申請註冊之前，就可能被他人以搶註之方式取得商標註冊，或是被他人搶先登記為網域名稱、公司名稱、商號名稱等，不但減損商標的價值，亦對商標權人產生極大的困擾。我國智慧財產權法院自2008 年7 月1 日正式成立後，在智慧財產權案件的審理方面貢獻良多，不過在兩件與Intel 有關的商標爭議案件中，卻產生了相當的疑慮，這是因為這兩個案件均涉及商標法第62 條第一項第一款之著名商標減損（或淡化dilution）問題，但是法院卻有不同的見解。首先，智財法院在Centrino 一案中選擇嚴格的文義解釋為判決基礎，這雖凸顯出商標法之漏洞，但未能予以適當的補救卻顯現智財法院的限制。而在Intel-Trans 案中，智財法院則面臨最高法院撤銷原本擴張解釋原則之見解，也因此引發對於商標法第62 條第一項第一款該如何適用，以及應如何處理商標減損問題的關切。 為此，本文除討論這兩件有關Intel 的商標爭議外，亦就世界智慧財產權組織（World Intellectual Property Organization，下稱WIPO）以及歐盟和美國在著名商標減損議題上的立法與司法實務發展加以分析，以利我國商標法未來在修法和法院實務運作上的參考。

The global recognition of brands has heightened the demand for famous trademark protection. Such trends are even more important in the context of trademark dilution. Because trademark dilution can exist even when products do not compete, or while absent any likelihood of confusion, a clear and effective standard regarding how to recognize trademark dilution becomes extremely critical. Two recent decisions decided by the Intellectual Property Court (IP Court) in Taiwan have illustrated the difficulties of enforcing rights in trademark dilution cases. Unfortunately, these two decisions as a whole represent a conflicting result for trademark protection. This paper suggests that the statutory provisions regarding trademark dilution require a broader and more aggressive judicial interpretation in order to protect the famous trademark more effectively. To support such argument, the author conducted an extensive analysis with respect to WIPO’s Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well-Known Marks as well as the EU trademark guidelines so that Taiwan’s future Trademark legislation can be more in line with the international standards.