To improve the environmental pollution-related problems caused by global climate change and the greenhouse effect, many countries have developed carbon reduction policies to reach the target of 2050 net-zero emissions set by the United Nations. Taiwan amended and promulgated the “Climate Change Response Act” on February 15, 2023, and will begin to levy carbon fees in 2024. While a trademark indicates the origin or source of goods or services, a green trademark with the concept of environmental protection insures the sustainable value of an enterprise. The so-called green trademark means that a trademark filed for registration designated on the item(s) of goods or services under the Nice International Classification, of which at least one item is used for green goods or green services. The green trademark designation excludes trademarks related to nuclear energy, as there are still controversial views on the environmental impact of nuclear waste products.
In order to meet the government’s promotion of green industries, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has categorized green goods/services into nine major groups per the EU Green Trademark Report. On this basis, TIPO conducted statistical analysis and research on Taiwan trademark cases in the past ten years, which may serve as a reference for enterprises to plan their green trademark layout.
NumThe nine major groups for green trademarks (TMs)
| Green TMs groups | Description |
|---|---|
| Energy Production | (1)Biofuels (2)Solar energy (3)Wind energy (4)Other energy |
| Transportation | (5)General transport (6)Electric car (7)Electric motor car (8)Electric bike (9)Hybrid vehicle (10)Hydrogen vehicle (11)Electric engines (12)Other vehicles |
| Energy Conservation | (13)Energy-saving (14)Storage of electricity (15)Low-energy lighting (16)Energy management |
| Reuse/Recycling | (17)Recycling (18)Reusable bags (19)Reusable bottles (20)Refilling cartridge (21)Other reuses |
| Pollution Control | (22)General pollution (23)Water purification (24)Air purification (25)Biodegradable |
| Waste Management | (26)Waste disposal (27)Process Waste |
Per TIPO statistics of total Taiwan trademark applications from 2013 to 2022, there are 14.5% of green trademarks (122,916 applications filed) and 85.5% of non-green trademarks (725,067 applications filed). The average proportions of green trademark applications is about 12.41% in the early period (2013~2015), 14.72% in the mid-period (2016~2019), and 15.87% in the later period (2020~2022). Overall, Taiwan green trademark applications shows a growth trend in this ten-year period. The main applicants of green trademark applications are from Taiwan, China, Japan and the United States. Energy conservation, pollution control and energy products accounted for 80% of the green trademark applications in nine major groups. Details follow in the table below.
Taiwan Green Trademark Applications from 2013 to 2022
| Rank | 9 Major groups (percentage) | Top 3 trademark applicants (filing number) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Energy Conservation (31.48%) | Apple (464) Uni-President (259) Huawei (247) |
| 2 | Pollution Control (27.79%) | Uni-President (485) Hisamitsu Pharma (236) Kobayashi Pharma (222) |
| 3 | Energy Production (20.86%) | Apple (478) Uni-President (304) Alibaba Group (236) |
| 4 | Climate Change (4.25%) | Alibaba Group (218) Uni-President (122) Amazon Tech (90) |
| 5 | Waste Management (4.09%) | Uni-President (101) Apple (67) Coupang (43) |
| 6 | Agriculture (3.23%) | Agriall Fertilizer (204) Dayi Agritech (119) Rotam Agrochem International (54) |
| 7 | Transportation (3.20%) | Kwang Yang Motor (196) BMW (87) Daimler (56) |
| 8 | Environmental Awareness (2.84%) | Alibaba Group (218) Uni-President (530) Nintendo (53) |
| 9 | Reuse/Recycling (2.34%) | Uni-President (110) Taiwan Cement (31) President Fair Development (31) |
