Violation of the Fair Trade Law by Hsiao Mu Chiang Teaching Material Publishing House for publishing false advertising

Chinese Taipei

Case:

Violation of the Fair Trade Law by Hsiao Mu Chiang Teaching Material Publishing House for publishing false advertising.

Key Words:

copyrights of merchandise, notary public office of a district court, catalog of merchandise

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of June 30,1999 (the 399th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (88) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 077

Industry:

Toy Manufacturing Industry (3912)

Relevant Laws:

Articles 21and the fore part of Article 41 (prior to amendment) of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. A complaint was filed by a member of the public. It is summarized as follows:

   Hsiao Mu Chiang Teaching Material Publishing House ("Hsiao Mu Chiang") marked the products entitled "The Deluxe Handcrafted Hardcover Tangram Book - Toughest Problems Edition" and "The Wood Tangram Paper Practice Book" in its catalog of merchandise with the markings "Copyright, Tainan District Court Notarization No.11251" and "Copyright, Tainan District Court Notarization No.11252," respectively, as selling points. The markings, it was alleged, could mislead consumers into believing that Hsiao Mu Chiang had obtained the copyrights for the products. In support of the complaint, the complainant cited a letter of the Notary Public Office, Tainan District Court ("the Office"), ref.: Nan Yuan Ch'ing Cheng Kung Tzu No. 66155, dated 2 September 1998, which stated the following: "...to avoid causing misunderstandings, please do not mark notarization numbers of this court as copyrights."

2. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) found that the aforesaid notarization numbers represented only the notarization of the signature of Mr. Ch'en of Hsiao Mu Chiang on letters of undertaking executed on his own initiative. There was nothing in the content of the notarizations that conferred copyrights. The aforesaid letter also stated the following: "...this office is not an agency for the registration of copyrights...we found that Hsiao Mu Chiang's 1998 notarization numbers 11251 and 11252 represented the notarization of signatures on letters of undertaking, not the registration of copyrights." It can therefore be concluded that Hsiao Mu Chiang had made false and misleading representations with regard to the copyrights of merchandise.

3. Hsiao Mu Chiang argued that the products at issue, its own creations, were revised in April, 1998. As the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) announced that copyright acquisition would be effected by the completion, rather than registration, of a work, Hsiao Mu Chiang had the products at issue notarized and registered by the Office to protect its basic rights and interests. However, the FTC found that Hsiao Mu Chiang was clearly aware that the MOI had adopted the principle of copyright upon completion, and therefore should know that copyright approval numbers and notarization numbers of the notary public office of a district court differ in legal significance. Nevertheless, Hsiao Mu Chiang marked the word "Copyright" adjacent to the court notarization number, obviously intending to mislead consumers.

4. In summary, Hsiao Mu Chiang's act at issue violated the provisions of paragraph 1, Article 21 of the Law. In addition, although the amendment to the Law took effect on 5 February 1999, the production and distribution of the catalogs containing the false representations took place in 1998, so Hsiao Mu Chiang was ordered by the FTC to cease the representations forthwith pursuant to the provisions of the fore part of Article 41 of the Law in effect at the time of the act.

Summarized by Wu Hung-kuan
Supervised by Chu Yu-ching

Appendix:
Hsiao Mu Chiang's Uniform Invoice Number: 19706750

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