Any words, designs, symbols, colors, three-dimensional shapes, motions, holograms, sounds, or any combination thereof contained in a trademark shall be distinctive enough to allow a relevant consumer to identify the trade source of certain goods/services of a certain manufacturer or merchant and to distinguish such goods or services – in such cases, the trademark is deemed to have distinctiveness. After a trademark is registered, the trademark right holder thereof enjoys the right to its exclusive use as well as the right to exclude others from using it. Therefore, a trademark as a whole must be distinctive.
If a trademark contains any descriptive or non-distinctive word or figure, and where the inclusion of that element in the trademark could give rise to doubts as to the scope of the trademark rights, the applicant shall state that he/she disclaims any exclusive right to such element. Such trademark without disclaimer shall not be registered.（§ 29Ⅲ, Trademark Act）

• Publish Date : 2008-04-23
• Update : 2020-12-07
• Organization : International Legal Affairs Office
• Visitors : 576