The owner of “Lai Kei Bakery” (禮記餅家) cannot register its business trademark as it closely resembles the existing trademark of the well-known local “Lai Kei” ice-cream shop, the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) said in a statement on Monday.
According to the statement, the owner of the bakery wanted to register a trademark for four kinds of goods – class heading 29*, 30*, 32* and 35*. However, the statement pointed out, the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) had rejected the bakery’s application based on Macau’s law on industrial property rights on March 12, 2020. The bakery disagreed with the result and appealed against the administrative decision to the Court of First Instance (TJB), the statement added.
The statement said that the TJB panel requested the Lai Kei ice-cream shop owner to testify about the matter. The statement pointed out that the TJB panel decided to approve the bakery’s trademark application as the ice-cream shop consists of two Chinese characters (禮記), the transliteration “Lai Kei” and the image of a girl with two braids in its business logo, while the bakery has only four Chinese characters (禮記餅家) in its logo. The four Chinese characters mean “Lai Kei Bakery” in English.
The statement underlined that the ice-cream shop disagreed with the TJB ruling and appealed to the Court of Second Instance (TSI). The statement said that the TSI panel of judges ruled that the ice-cream shop’s trademark is “strong” and a “renowned trademark”. The panel decided, the statement said, to reject the trademark application by the bakery. The statement added that it was then the bakery that was dissatisfied with the ruling and appealed to the Court of Final Appeal (TUI).
According to the statement, the TUI panel of judges said that as the Industry Property Law clearly states that a trademark logo is a way for consumers to recognise the source of a product, it should be unique in the competing market. However, the statement said, the bakery and the ice-cream shop’s logo closely resemble each other and if they cater to a similar group of consumers, it could cause “confusion”. The statement underlined that as the two businesses contain the Chinese characters “禮記”, the TUI panel decided to reject the bakery’s four trademark registration requests. The statement underlined that as the ice-cream shop has also been classified by the government as one of Macau’s “Distinctive Shops” and has a long historical background, consumers could confuse the bakery with the ice-cream shop.
*Class heading 29: Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, frozen, dried and cooked fruit and vegetables; jellies, jams, compotes; eggs, milk and milk products; edible oils and fats.
*Class heading 30: Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, tapioca, sago, artificial coffee; flour and preparations made from cereals, bread, pastry and confectionery, ices; honey, treacle; yeast, baking-powder; salt, mustard; vinegar, sauces (condiments); spices; ice.
*Class heading 32: Beers; mineral and aerated waters and other non-alcoholic drinks; fruit drinks and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages.
*Class heading 35: Advertising; business management; business administration; office functions.
These photos show the first (left) and the current Lai Kei ice-cream shopfront. Photo: Camy Tam
