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Owners say world's tallest skyscraper no longer a free-for-all

Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC), owner of Taipei 101, said it will start charging companies for any commercial usage of the image of the world's tallest building in a bid to protect its trademark.

As one of Taiwan's major landmarks, the Taipei 101 skyscraper, opened at the end of 2004, is not only one of the nation's hottest tourist attractions but it has also found itself being used in countless advertisements, commercials, music videos and TV dramas.

"Unlike Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the National Palace Museum, which are public assets, Taipei 101 is private property," Joery Wei (魏善平), a public relations official, said yesterday.

"We have registered a three-dimensional trademark for the building with the Intellectual Property Office, which entitles us the right to protect the trademark from being abused," he added.

As TFCC has spent a considerable amount of money in establishing and running the "Taipei 101" brand, companies that use Taipei 101 to promote their products are also in violation of the Fair Trade Law (公平交易法), Wei said.

Last year alone, TFCC found over 1,000 cases of other companies using Taipei 101 as a promotional tool -- mostly in real estate advertising -- that could potentially mislead consumers, Wei said.

As a result, TFCC decided to charge royalty for any commercial use of the building's image. For example, a poster featuring the Taipei 101 tower will be charged NT$100,000 (US$3,099), Wei said.

The fee for TV commercials and drama series will be set depending on each case, he added. TFCC may take legal action against individuals and companies that fail to request permission, Wei said.

Use for the government and public is free of charge, Wei said.

The decision drew the ire of advertisers and TV producers, as other major landmarks around the world, such as the Empire State Building in New York City and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, have no such charges.

Jack Lu (盧文祥), deputy director general of Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office, said as long as ads and commercials use the building in the background and not as the main feature, they will not infringe upon the Trademark Act (商標法), but whether the practice is in violation of the Fair Trade Law will depend on any resultant investigation by the local Fair Trade Commission.
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