After over a year of heated legal battle, the Shihlin District Court of Taiwan finally ruled the lawsuit between Apple Computer Inc. and Luxpro Technology Co., Ltd. in favor of Luxpro Technology Co., Ltd. (Shihlin District Court Verdict Doc. No. 2005- su-tzu-ti-1109). This verdict was without doubt justice well deserved, albeit late to a hardworking Taiwanese corporation whose products are 100% researched and developed, designed, and manufactured in Taiwan.
In July of 2005, multinational giant Apple Computer filed a provisional disposition action motion against the Super Tangent, the Top Tangent, and the EZ Tangent rectangular-case MP3 player of Luxpro Technology. It claimed that the rectangular case and round control buttons on the case cover of the foregoing products closely resembled the iPod Shuffle product of Apple Computer; hence Apple Computer, under the provisions of the Fair Trade Act, petitioned the court to “prohibit Luxpro Technology from manufacturing the aforesaid product series.” Thereupon, the Shihlin District Court issued an execution order demanding that Luxpro should desist frrom manufacturing and selling the said products. Although Luxpro was able to overturn the provisional disciplinary action ruling of the district court through an appeal filed at the Taiwan High Court, which adjudged that “the appearances of the two products quite dissimilar”, the motion issued earlier caused Luxpro to lose valuable market opportunities and a considerable amount of orders.
In reality, Luxpro’s Tangent series products could be easily and apparently distinguished from the Apple product. In addition to the “Luxpro” brand marked on the product, the series had easy-to-operate features. Moreover, it has a tri-color OLED display monitor that makes it easy for consumers to distinguish the product. In order to keep this wholly Taiwan developed and manufactured Tangent product series in the market despite the oppressive strength of an opposing multinational corporation, under the leadership of Luxpro Board Chairman Wu Fu-Chin, the entire staff of Luxpro Technology, through the assistance of Atty. Jason J.P. Chang of Daylight Law Office endeavored and finally won a hard-earned victory in this transnational legal battle.
Shortly before the court ruling, Apple Computer also filed a similar motion against Luxpro Technology with the Fair Trade Commission of the Executive Yuan under the provisions of the Fair Trade act; however, the Fair Trade Commission issued a reply dated October 13, 2006 which determined that Luxpro’s Tangent product line had not violated any laws. The Shihlin District Court verdict on the case was consistent with the resolution of the Fair Trade Commission.
Comment: The key issue of the case in Taiwan is not how big the company is, but what evidence the plaintiff or defendant has. If the attorney would communicate and cooperate with the client smoothly, his client would get more opportunity to win the case.
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