The Taiwan High Court requested that the Fair Trade Commission give an appraisal as to whether Hua Shuo Securities Co.'s use in its company name of the same two Chinese characters used in Asustek Computer Corp.'s name and its use of a "prancing horse" design similar to that used by Asustek, constituted a violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Case:
The Taiwan High Court requested that the Fair Trade Commission give an appraisal as to whether Hua Shuo Securities Co.'s use in its company name of the same two Chinese characters used in Asustek Computer Corp.'s name and its use of a "prancing horse" design similar to that used by Asustek, constituted a violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Key Words:
actively make an association with, impact the trading order, obviously unfair
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of November 16, 2000 (the 471st Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung San Tzu No. 8909830
Industry:
Securities Trading Industry (6611)
Relevant Law:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. The Taiwan High Court requested that the Fair Trade Commission (the Commission) determines whether, as a result of operating under a name containing two Chinese characters identical with those appearing in Asustek Computer Corp.'s ("Asutek") name, and using a "prancing horse" design similar to the "racing horse" design displayed by Asustek on the back cover of Asustek product catalog, Hua Shuo Securities Co.'s ("Hua Shuo") has violated Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law. 2. The company name used by Hua Shuo contained two Chinese characters identical with those in Asustek Computer Corp.'s name. In its personnel advertisements, Hua Shuo also used a "prancing horse" design similar in conceptual expression with the "racing horse" design used by Asustek. Asustek stock's performance in the stock market and the fact that Hua Shuo is also in the securities business, together, should give reasonable basis to believe that Hua Shuo intentionally and actively sought to create an apparent association between itself and Asustek. Asustek's name is a widely known trade dress among related industries and consumers. In addition, the use of "prancing horse" design by Hau Shuo makes people associate the two companies with one another, diluting or tainting Asustek's trade dress among consumers and businesses. Hua Shuo's conduct effectively impacted Asustek's market competitiveness through the use of Asustek trade dress. In absence of any other reasonable factors to refute the aforementioned fact, it is the Commission's opinion that Hua Shuo's use of the said Chinese characters in its name and the "prancing horse" design are sufficient to disrupt the trading order constituting obviously unfair conduct in violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law.Appendix: Hua Shuo Securities Co.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 16437633 Summarized by Tu, Hsing-Feng; Supervised by Yeh, Tien-Fu