Registering and enforcing UK trade marks in Taiwan
Taiwan is first-to-file, which means a competitor can own your brand there before you do. The cost of buying it back is higher than the cost of filing first.
UK trade marks have no automatic protection in Taiwan
Your UK trade mark registration is territorial. It protects your brand in the UK and countries covered by international treaties to which the UK is party, but Taiwan operates independently. Taiwan uses a first-to-file system, which means the first person or entity to file and register a mark gets the protection, regardless of who used it first or for how long.
This has a direct practical consequence: a competitor, supplier, or bad-faith third party can register your brand name, your logo, or a confusingly similar mark in Taiwan before you do. Once registered, that person owns the exclusive right to use it in Taiwan. If you have not filed yourself, you cannot sue them for infringement or prevent them from trading under your brand.
The risk crystallises when a UK company plans to trade into Taiwan, open a subsidiary, attend a trade show, or sell online to Taiwanese customers. Delaying registration until after your first sale or shipment leaves a window where competitors can file and lock you out. The cost of buying a squatted mark is typically far higher than registering it yourself at the start.
Trade mark squatting and what it costs to buy your brand back
Trade mark squatting is common in Taiwan and other first-to-file jurisdictions. A local person with no connection to your brand can search the Taiwan register, see that your mark is not registered, file it in their name and sit on it. Their motivation may be to demand payment for the mark if you want to expand into Taiwan, or to sell it to a competitor, or simply to prevent you from trading under your name.
Removing a squatted mark is expensive and uncertain. You can request cancellation if the squatter has not used the mark for a defined period and you can prove it, but that requires evidence and is contested. Alternatively, you can negotiate a buyout, which involves admitting you were late to file and paying a premium for the privilege. Litigation to challenge the squatter's right typically takes time and money.
The simpler and cheaper path is to register your own marks before squatting becomes possible. Filing when you first decide to trade into Taiwan, not after you have made your first sale, is the standard practice because it removes the opportunity for a third party to create leverage over you.
When to file: before your first sale or trade show
Trade mark law across most jurisdictions recognises use as a way to establish rights, but Taiwan's first-to-file system means registration is what actually grants protection. The strategic timing is to file your application before you make your first sale, shipment, trade show appearance or significant marketing push in Taiwan. Once you have offered goods or services using your mark, the landscape changes in two ways.
First, you establish a record of prior use in Taiwan, which strengthens your position in enforcement later if someone has infringed. Second, a squatter who wants to argue that your mark is abandoned or that you never intended to trade will have a harder case, because they can point to your own activity. Conversely, filing before use gives you a clean first-to-file right regardless of what use may or may not have happened elsewhere.
The rule of thumb is simple: file before you advertise, before you ship, before the trade show. If you are still assessing the market or planning quietly, filing does not commit you to anything; it protects you while you decide. Waiting until after your first customer shipment or booth visit exposes you to squatting risk for the time you were selling unregistered.
Choosing classes and registering Chinese-character marks
Trade marks are registered in specific classes that define what goods or services they protect. Taiwan uses the international classification system. You must choose which classes apply to your business. Registering only in Class 35 (services) if you also sell physical goods leaves you without protection in the goods classes, and vice versa. Wider protection costs more to file but avoids gaps in coverage.
Many UK brands use Latin script names. In Taiwan, where Chinese characters are the script of commerce, your brand will be written and spoken in Chinese. If you do not register a Chinese-character version of your brand name, the market will adopt its own. Your supplier might transliterate it phonetically, a competitor might register a character version first, or local customers might know you only by a Chinese rendering you never chose.
Registering the Chinese-character version yourself means you control how your brand is rendered in the market, and you can enforce against confusingly similar marks using those characters. If you wait for the market to choose, you may find that someone else has already registered the logical Chinese version of your brand in Taiwan, leaving you unable to use it yourself. Registration of both Latin and Chinese versions is standard practice for brands intending to trade into Taiwan.
The examination path and opposition window
After you file, the Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Economic Affairs examines your application. The examination checks whether your mark meets the statutory requirements: that it is distinctive, not descriptive, not offensive and not confusingly similar to existing marks. Examination takes time, and the office may raise objections or request amendments. You can respond to and appeal examiners' objections through a formal process.
Once the examiner is satisfied, your mark is published for opposition. During the opposition period, anyone who believes your mark conflicts with their own rights can file an opposition against registration. Opposition is common in Taiwan, and oppositions are decided by the Intellectual Property Office on the merits. If no opposition is filed, or if oppositions are dismissed, your mark proceeds to registration.
The entire path from filing to registration involves examination, publication, and potentially opposition proceedings. This takes time. Plan for your registration to take several months, and account for the possibility that examination may raise issues requiring clarification or amendment. The process is manageable but not instant, so filing early means you have time for these steps to complete while you are still establishing your market.
Customs recordal as an enforcement tool at the border
Once your mark is registered, you can record it with Taiwan Customs. Customs recordal does not grant additional rights, but it alerts the Customs authority to watch for infringing goods being imported. If goods bearing a counterfeit or infringing version of your mark arrive for import, Customs can detain them at the border and refer the matter to enforcement authorities.
For brands vulnerable to counterfeiting or where the primary threat is inbound counterfeits rather than local infringement, Customs recordal is a practical enforcement tool. It is cheaper than filing individual infringement cases and it creates a barrier at the point of entry. Customs can hold goods while you decide whether to pursue enforcement action.
Customs recordal alone does not stop an infringer; it creates a checkpoint. If infringing goods are detained, the matter still proceeds to administrative or criminal enforcement if you choose to pursue it. But it is a force multiplier for brands whose risk profile includes counterfeiting or where imports are a known threat.
What evidence enforcement actions actually need
Enforcement against an infringer requires proof of three things: that you own the registered mark, that the defendant used your mark or a confusingly similar mark, and that such use occurred on goods or services within your registered classes. You must also demonstrate that the use is without your consent and that it creates a likelihood of confusion among consumers.
Evidence takes the form of documents, photographs, testimony and sometimes expert evidence. For a counterfeit product, you need the product itself or photographs clearly showing the infringing mark. For a business using your mark without permission, you need invoices, advertisements, social media posts, photographs of storefronts or products, and anything showing the accused used the mark on goods or services in Taiwan. For online infringement, you need screenshots with dates and URLs.
You must also show that your own mark was used in Taiwan during the relevant period. This means actual sales, advertising, or distribution of genuine goods or services bearing your mark within Taiwan. If you registered the mark but never actually used it in Taiwan, an opponent can request cancellation based on non-use, and an infringer's lawyer will argue that your mark is not being genuinely used and is therefore vulnerable. Evidence of your own use is as important as evidence of the infringement.
Non-use cancellation: defending your registration and attacking squatters
Trade mark law in Taiwan includes a non-use cancellation provision. If a registered mark is not used in Taiwan for a defined period, anyone can request the Intellectual Property Office to cancel the registration. The mark's owner then has to prove use during the relevant period, or the registration is cancelled and the mark becomes available for others to register.
This is a risk if you register a mark but later decide not to trade in Taiwan, or if your Taiwanese presence is dormant or intermittent. If you cannot show use when challenged, your registration can be cancelled. This is why it is important to treat registered marks as assets: if you are not using them, and you do not plan to, consider whether registration is worth maintaining.
Non-use cancellation is also your tool against a squatter who registered your brand but never actually used it. If the squatter is just sitting on the mark, not selling goods or providing services under it, and the statutory period has passed, you can request cancellation based on non-use. The squatter then has to produce evidence of use or lose the mark. This is often easier than litigating an infringement claim against them.
Common questions
Does my UK trade mark registration protect my brand in Taiwan?
No. UK registration is territorial and does not extend to Taiwan. Taiwan operates first-to-file, so you must register locally to have enforceable rights. Without a Taiwan registration, competitors can register your brand before you do.
What can I do if someone has already registered my brand in Taiwan?
You can request cancellation if they have not used the mark for the statutory period, or you can pursue an infringement action if they used it after you registered. Negotiation and buyout are often the practical solutions, but both are more expensive than registering first.
Do I need to register in every trade mark class?
No. You choose the classes that cover your goods or services. Narrower registration is cheaper but leaves gaps in protection if you later expand into other categories. Your adviser can help you pick appropriate classes for your business model.
Why register a Chinese-character version of my brand?
Because if you do not, local markets, suppliers and competitors will adopt their own Chinese renderings of your brand. If someone registers that character version before you do, you cannot use it yourself. Registering both Latin script and Chinese versions gives you control of your brand's identity in the market.
What do I need to prove in an infringement action?
That you own the registered mark, that the defendant used your mark or a confusingly similar mark without permission, that they used it on goods or services within your registered classes, and that this creates a likelihood of confusion. You must also show that you have actually used your own mark in Taiwan.
Can I remove an old squatted mark through cancellation?
Yes, if the owner has not used the mark for the statutory period, you can request cancellation. The owner must then prove use or the registration is cancelled and the mark becomes available. This is often simpler than fighting an infringement case.
Where to check the current position
- Intellectual Property Office, Ministry of Economic Affairs (registration, examination, opposition, cancellation)
- Taiwan Customs Administration (customs recordal and border enforcement)
- Intellectual Property Court, Taiwan High Court (civil enforcement and litigation)
These guides are general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Rules and figures change: check the current position with the bodies named above before you act.
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