Kējì Fǎxué Pínglùn (Dec 2009)
網路世界中關鍵字所涉及之商標侵權爭議 ― 以美國法的初始興趣混淆原則與使用為中心 The Disputes of Initial Interest Confusion in the Internet World – From Meta Tags to Keywords
Abstract
使用者若想在網路以有效率方式取得資訊，便需藉由在搜尋引擎中輸入關鍵字作精確地搜尋，而此也正是關鍵字議題產生的起源。當關鍵字成為網路使用者最快取得資訊的方式時，網頁擁有人也將竭盡所能的以各種方式，使自己的網頁能夠被使用者發現，進而在眾多競爭者脫穎而出。由於關鍵字帶來的新服務態樣，使得商標的使用不再必須仰賴實體物品的出現，或甚至可使用在人類無法察覺而僅供機器內部辨識之處，故也挑戰著原來美國商標法規定的「商業上使用」方式。本文便是欲探究美國司法實務中，以初始興趣混淆原則（IIC）及美國商標法規定的使用定義，作為網路環境下，因關鍵字所產生的商標侵權與否之判斷要件是妥適，並進而檢驗我國相關法制之因應作為。 Since many website operators find consumers today often use trademarks on an Internet search engine, like Google or Yahoo, seeking specific goods or services, these operators also adjust their marketing strategy to insert others’ famous trademarks in their original website HTML pages (known as meta tags) or purchase the “keyword” (usually is other’s trademark) from the search engine operator in order to have a better position in the search result pages. By these methods, the consumers will sometimes be referred to the advertisements for these website operators, instead of the real trademark owners. Undoubtedly, the real trademark owners are very angry with these, since they suffer economic loss. For these reasons, there are more and more lawsuits between the trademark owners and their competitor or search engine operators. The plaintiff often claims the defendant’s behavior still violates the doctrine of initial interest confusion (IIC) in trademark law. The IIC doctrine is gradually developed by practices of the courts, it allowing a finding of infringement even if a consumer is sure to know the actual source or origin of the goods or services at the time the purchase is made, so long as the consumer may have been momentarily confused. This Article will argue that the early application of the initial interest confusion doctrine in the United States to the Internet meta tag and search engine cases has a questionable legal basis and extend trademark protection far beyond the traditional purposes of trademark law. Additionally, how to define the “use” of the trademark is the prerequisite condition to decide trademark infringe or not, this Article will also discuss the appropriate scope in order to protect the trademark owner’s right and harmony with the changing internet behavior.
