Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨), a unit of Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), yesterday said it plans to rename itself Far Eastern Sogo Department Store amid a trademark infringement dispute.
The company decided to stop using “Pacific” as part of its brand name, as the former management team — Pacific Construction Co’s (太平洋建設) Chang (章) family — has filed a lawsuit against trademark owner Sogo Co Ltd in Japan, the department store chain said in a statement.
Sogo, which has collaborations with many Asian department store operators, has agreed to the proposal to change Pacific Sogo’s branding, the statement said.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
“The Chang family did not accuse Pacific Sogo of trademark infringement, but we still hope to avoid any ambiguity or controversy [by changing the name],” a Pacific Sogo public relations official said by telephone.
The department store chain’s Big City (遠東巨城購物中心) shopping mall in Hsinchu has used Far Eastern branding since it opened for business five years ago, the official added.
Pacific Sogo declined to confirm reports that it would use Far Eastern branding next month at the earliest, and the official did not provide a time frame.
Pacific Sogo has told business partners that it would start using the new branding next month, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported earlier.
Pacific Sogo, which operates eight department stores in Taiwan and seven in China, reported revenue of NT$42.67 billion (US$1.41 billion) for last year, its Web site showed.
Far Eastern Group, which also owns Far Eastern Department Stores Co (遠東百貨) and The Mall (遠企購物中心), acquired ownership of the 30-year-old department store chain from Pacific Construction via a recapitalization scheme in 2002.
The two firms were involved in a legal battle over ownership of the chain for more than a decade, but the dispute ended after the Taipei High Administrative Court dismissed an administrative sanction in 2012.
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