Complaint against Hsu Kuo-tsai and Hsu Hung-jen for using the name "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee (Shih-shen Guangdung Zhou)" in violation of the Fair Trade Law
Case:
Complaint against Hsu Kuo-tsai and Hsu Hung-jen for using the name "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee (Shih-shen Guangdung Zhou)" in violation of the Fair Trade Law
Key Words:
"Taiwan Eating God" Rice Congee, attested letter
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of June 7, 2000 (the 448th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung Chu Tzu No. 093
Industry:
Chinese Cuisine Restaurant Industry (5711)
Relevant Laws:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. In July 2000, Fang Fu-Tien filed a complaint stating that although he had founded the eatry named "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee," Hsu Kuo-tsai and Hsu Hung-jen expropriate the name he had worked hard to establish only two months after joining his franchise chain. Accordingly to the complaint, Hsu Kuo-tsai and Hsu Hung-jen deceptively filed with the Tainan City government a business license application under the name "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee," from which a license was mistakenly granted. Thereafter, Hsu Kuo-tsai and Hsu Hung-jen began doing business under the said name, taking advantage of the good business reputation of the name. Hsu Hung-jen also sent an attested letter accusing the complainant of using the said name to swindle capital, and threatening other franchise store operators to stop using the "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee" name. The franchise store became confused about what to do. 2. After the Fair Trade Commission (the Commission) requested Hsu Kuo-tsai and Hsu Hung-jen to appear and provide explanations, the Commission found while Fang Fu-tien had not made a prior application in Tainan for a business license, Hsu Hung-jen nevertheless clearly knew that the franchise store operated by his father, Hsu Kuo-tsai, belonged to the "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee" chain founded by Fang Fu-tien. After Hsu Hung-jen took over his father's business, he obtained a license for "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee." Although the license was obtained done in accordance with the Business Registration Law, the license also grants approval for operation within the jurisdiction of the Tainan city. Despite the fact Hsu Hung-jen clearly knew that the "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee" was found by Fang Fu-tien, he took advantage of the fact that Fang had not applied for a business license in Tainan and made an application under his own name. He further issued attested letters requesting Fang Fu-tien and Fang's five franchise stores in Tainan to discontinue what he referred to as unauthorized use of the "Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee" name, clearly attempting to restrict the use of the name in question by those operators for the purpose of unfair competition. The act was a breach of business ethics, and constituted unfair practices capable of influencing the market business order. It was therefore deemed to be in violation of article 24 of the Fair Trade Law, and a fine of 100,000 New Taiwan Dollars was levied against the respondent. Appendix: Hsu Hung-jen ("Taiwan Eating God Rice Congee")'s Uniform Invoice Number: 19492455 Summarized by Lai Mei-hua; Supervised by Pai Yu-chuang