Complaint that Yu Chiang Information Co., Ltd. violated Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law by using "Internet Makro Online" as its web page title
Case:
Complaint that Yu Chiang Information Co., Ltd. violated Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law by using "Internet Makro Online" as its web page title
Key Words:
Makro Taiwan, online stores, webpages
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of May 31, 2000 (the 447th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 090
Industry:
Information and Software Services Industry (7501)
Relevant Laws:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. The complainant stated that Makro Taiwan Co., Ltd.'s (Makro) "Makro" trade and service mark is a symbol commonly known to consumers and relevant enterprises. Yu Chiang Information Co., Ltd. (Yu Chiang Information) opened an online store and used the presentation "Internet Makro Online" as the title of the webpage containing the site's "Foreign Language Computer Books" section. The complainant argued that this apparently unfair act constituted an encroachment on Makro's business reputation and violated Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law.2. When Internet users use Internet browsers to search for specific webpages, they simply enter a string or keyword and the search engine will automat ically conduct a query and show the results to the users. When browsers show query results, they usually displays the title of the webpage, which is the descriptive text containing the title tags in the page's source. (Title tags are tags used to mark titles in the Hypertext Markup Language). Some search sites also display related websites and a description of the site or its address. Yu Chiang Information, for example, set the controversial title of the "Foreign Language Computer Books" web page to "Internet Makro Online." Under this circumstances,, when search engines list this site, they display a link to "Internet Makro Online." Internet users then use this link as the sole basis for their initial judgment as to whether this link is the website for which they are searching. They then move their mouse over the website or link and click to enter. In addition to information offered, webpages can also contain advertising and provide electronic trading services. The more hits a website or webpage rece ives, the more the owner can charge for advertising on that site or page. In the case of "Internet Makro Online," more hits also represent more trading opportunities since the site also provides electronic trading services. In other words, Internet users use the web sites, titles, or descriptions listed by search engines to judge whether to visit or view the webpage or not. Webpage titles can thus attract online traffic and increase trading opportunities. Should a website use, without any legitimate reasons, a symbol that is identical or similar to another's commonly known symbol as the title of its website or webpage for purposes of increasing web traffic, that website will have committed an act of unfair competition. 3. "Makro" is a symbol that is commonly known to relevant enterprises or consumers. Moreover, "Makro" is not an ordinary name. By using "Internet Makro Online" as the title of its "Foreign Language Computer Books" web page, Yu Chiang Information caused Internet users to find "Internet Makro Online" in the query results generated by querying for the string "Makro." Thus when Internet users first saw "Internet Makro Online" they may have entered the site believing that this site was an online shopping site operated by Makro even though the overall appearance of the controversial webpage would not have confused consumers with regard to the origin of the services furnished. In other words, Yu Chiang Information clearly used Makro's business reputation to raise the priority the controversial website received in search results and increased web traffic attracted to the site by using the title "Internet Makro Online." The use of this title constituted an encroachment on Makro's business reputation to increase trading opportunities and extract the fruits of another's labor. The Fair Trade Commission therefore found that Yu Chiang had engaged in obviously unfair acts that are capable of affecting trading order in violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law.Appendix:
Yu Chiang Information Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 84867879Summarized by Yang, Chung-lin; Supervised by Pai, Yu-chiang