Few people can resist the inviting aroma of freshly baked egg cakes (雞蛋糕), and the wide variety of shapes they come in make them especially appealing to kids. However, authorized distributors of popular cartoon and comic book characters Doraemon and SpongeBob SquarePants warned that vendors using the characters as a marketing tool without their permission is illegal.
An egg-cake peddler in Taipei surnamed Chang (張) said he bought the cake molds from a distributor and was surprised to learn that he has violated the law.
“If I had known earlier, I would have bought traditional egg-shaped molds instead,” Chang said.
Photo: Wu Sheng-ju, Taipei Times
Another Taipei-based vendor surnamed Lai (賴) said she knew selling egg-cakes bearing the image of cartoon characters would be a problem, which is why she chose to use a set of elephant and bird-shaped molds designed and patented by her father.
Taiwan Shogakukan, the Taiwanese branch of Shogakukan, publisher of the beloved Japanese anime Doraemon, said some egg-cake vendors have infringed on the company’s rights as they have not been granted permission to use the company’s designs.
Meanwhile, Lienchih Co, the authorized Taiwanese distributor of SpongeBob SquarePants products, said it would consult the franchise’s owner on whether it should file charges against such vendors.
According to Louis International Law Firm attorney Leo Ko (柯林宏), Doraemon and SpongeBob SquarePants are registered trademarks in Taiwan and their designs cannot be used without permission.
Using these designs to manufacture pancake molds is an act of infringement and both the manufacturers and owners could face legal liability should copyright and trademark owners decide to press charges against them, he said.
Taiwan, as a member of the WTO, is governed by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which stipulates that the owner of a trademark or copyright may claim their rights overseas, meaning they may demand compensation from violators and protect their intellectual property from unauthorized use under Article 68 of the Trademark Act (商標法) and Article 84 of the Copyright Act (著作權法).
Furthermore, Article 95 of the Trademark Act and Article 91 of the Copyright Act state that violators shall face a prison term of no more than three years or a fine of no more than NT$750,000 (US$25,000).
However, a lawyer who declined to be named said that given the low profits that egg-cake sellers make, it is unlikely that copyright owners would bother to file lawsuits against them.
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