萬國法律事務所

The “Action Plan to Implement Intellectual Rights Protection” initiated by TIPO back in 2006 has now concluded on December 31, 2008. The former “Action Plan” had garnered outstanding results with respect to the deterrence of counterfeit and piracy, the conception and implementation of educational campaigns, the strengthening of border customs controls and monitoring, and the reinforcement of international exchange with respect to the intellectual property rights (IPR) protective measures. Furthermore, the Office of the United States Trade Representative has recently announced the official removal of Taiwan from the Special 301 Watch List after the conclusion of an Out-of-Cycle Review. In light of the increasing importance of IPRs protection in recent economic and trade negotiations at the global level, TIPO has further established the “Action Plan to Strengthen Intellectual Property Rights Protection” based on the exceptional results from its active role in recent years to develop IPR protective policies and measures. The new “Action Plan” is expected to be a three-year plan beginning in 2009, to take effect after ratification by the Executive Yuan.

In addition to sustaining past endeavors in the protection of IPRs, the new three-year “Action Plan” includes studies on the subjects of (1) the promotion of concrete plans towards the successful enactment of the Copyright Act’s new Internet Service Provider Liabilities Bill with respect to the liabilities of internet service providers for copyright infringements, (2) the integration of the different control mechanisms for monitoring the international circulation and transfer of counterfeit commodities and the exportation of trade-marked goods, (3) strengthening the regulatory framework for superficial characteristics counterfeiting, and (4) the unauthorized use of famous trade-marks as company or trade names.

With respect to the international circulation and transfer of counterfeit commodities, Ms. Margaret Chen, the Deputy Director General of TIPO, indicated that although the customs agencies of most developed countries have typically instigated control mechanisms for the respective exports, goods in transit are often not necessarily subject to the same level of monitoring and scrutiny. In this respect, there is currently much discussion amongst the countries regarding the feasibility of creating an inspection mechanism for goods in transit. Furthermore, in accordance with the current Regulations Governing Export Commodities, in ROC, the control mechanisms for trade-mark infringements are now enforced by the Board of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs, whereas the control mechanisms over copyright infringements are under the jurisdiction of TIPO. A major focus of the new three-year “Action Plan” will center on this issue of integrating the two systems in order to improve future enforcement and prosecution protocol for IPR infringements.

In summary, the main objectives of the new three-year “Action Plan” include:
(1) improving ROC legislative framework over sound IPR policies and regulations;
(2) intensifying investigation of counterfeit goods and providing specialized training for prosecutors and other officials;
(3) improving customs regulations and controls to reduce the trade in counterfeit commodities and piracy;
(4) the continued efforts in promoting IPR protection awareness in various school campuses through the “Campus IPR Action Plan” of TIPO;
(5) striving for the lawful utilization of copyrighted materials such as computer software and providing counseling and guidance for the establishment of a licensing scheme to enable and facilitate such lawful utilization;
(6) strengthening the communications framework for public education and the dissemination of accurate IPRs notions and concepts;
(7) increasing international exchange and cooperation so as to improve the understanding by foreign nations of the ROC legal framework for IPR protection; and
(8) rewarding innovative inventions and assisting businesses in the commercialization of patented rights in order to increase the competitiveness of ROC businesses abroad.