Ten Comfort Corporation engaged in acts of interference by stating at the distribution channels of competitors that their thermal compress infringed on patent rights
Chinese Taipei
Case:
Ten Comfort Corporation engaged in acts of interference by stating at the distribution channels of competitors that their thermal compress infringed on patent rights.
Key Words:
thermal compress, patent
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of October 28, 1998 (364th Commission Meeting); Disposition Ref. (87) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 245 Chu Fen Shu
Industry:
Other unclassified industrial manufactured products industries (3999)
Relevant Laws:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
Ten Comfort Corporation in December 1996 and 1997 at distribution channels including produce markets, night markets, and department stores, accused the distributors of violating provisions in the Patent Law by distributing counterfeited thermal compresses. The accusations were made under the pretext that the use of flexible metallic strips (new model No. 80848) in the product was a patent infringement. Such accusations prevented the distributors from distributing the merchandise, caused the department stores to demand that distributors temporarily remove the product from display, and caused consumers to return and refrain from purchasing the product.
If a patent holder claims that his rights have been infringed upon, he may seek relief through a public or private suit under the Law of Criminal Procedure or via a suit for damages under the Law of Civil Procedure including the right to file for the protection of injunction. Instead, Ten Comfort elected to follow the course of actions described in the preceding paragraph that were reprehensible by commercial ethics. Also, they constitute a violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law, which condemns unfair activities that are sufficient to affect market order.
Summarized by Hong Hsiu-hsin
Supervised by Shi Chin-ts'un
Ten Comfort Corporation’s Uniform Invoice No.: 22904678