TIPO’s “IPR Online” Project

(1)

VOL. 11 NO. 11 NOV. 16, 2003 http://www.industry.net.tw 　http://www.patent.org.tw

 MEASURES

W

The Patent Law, as amended and promulgated on February 6, 2003, is approved by the Executive Yuan to

enter into force on March 31. The amendments delete existing Articles 83, 125, 126, and 128 to 131 regarding penalties, and thereafter patent infringement cases will be

governed entirely under civil litigation procedures.

Prosecutors will no longer handle patent infringement cases;

cases undergoing investigations may receive non- prosecution decisions, and cases pending judgment may be

dismissed.T

TIPO’s “IPR Online” Project

T

o be in line with international trend of E-systemizing intellectual property rights, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has been actively developing its “IPR Online”

Project. The ultimate goal of the project is to allow all processes relating to IPRs—from filing of an application to exchange of international information—to be conducted on a comprehensive and fully integrated electronic platform. The structure of the system focuses on four main aspects:

(1) Electronic Applications: Applicants/agents will be able to file applications, make payment inquiries and track application progress online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

(2) Administrative Efficiency: Under the development of the E-government system, instant electronic notices of administrative dispositions and public gazettes will be used to streamlined office procedures.

(3) Knowledge-base Training: Under the electronic categorization of IP examinations and the completion of IPR databases, IPR examiners and private R&D personnel will have access to IPR information and better IPR tools to enhance examination quality and industrial R&D competitiveness.

(4) Harmonizing with Global E-system: With the passing of

the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) on June 1, 2000 by WIPO, electronic application is expected to commence in 2005.

The fully operative E-system will have a comprehensive database that complies with international standards. This database will enable Taiwan patents to be internationally protected through information exchanges with foreign IP institutions. It will also enable Taiwan businesses to have access to international patent information so as to avoid patent infringements, repeated investments and unnecessary R&Ds.

T

he “IPR Online” Project commenced on January 2003 and is expected to complete in December 2008. The project is divided into 3 stages:

(1) Short-Term: Primary focus will be on the overall structure of the system. Small Scale On-Line (SSOL) is expected to complete in 2004.

(2) Mid-Term: Primary focus is on completing the online application system, so that all IPR procedures can be online by 2007.

(3) Long-Term: In addition to continue to maintaining and expanding the system, the quality of services will continue to be enhanced, and adjustments will be made according to government policies.

T

he project is divided into 3 parts—“system installation”,

“system consultancy”, and “digitalization of documents”—

for bidding. Preparation of the invitations to bid and initial planning of the system were completed in July 2003, and the statutory gazette period commenced in August 2003. It is expected that all bidding processes will be completed by the end of 2003, and system design and development will then begin.

(2)

Taiwan Relaxes Restrictions on Employment of Foreign Nationals to Enhance Industrial R&D

T

he Taiwanese Government has recently implemented various measures to facilitate recruitment of overseas technological talents and to attract foreign talents to work in Taiwan. Certain restrictions on foreign master’s and doctorate students undertaking internships, Overseas Mainland nationals with technological backgrounds, and foreign nationals with specialized skills have been relaxed to enhance R&D in Taiwan industry.

O

n November 13, 2003, the Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced the relaxation of restrictions on employing foreign nationals with specialized skills. As of October 29 this year, companies that are recognized by the Industrial Development Bureau as falling within any of the 12 technological services described in Article 5.1.8 of the “Directives for Providing Incentives for Novel, Important & Strategic Manufacturing and Technological Service Industries” may be exempt from the requirement of related technological skill work experience when recruiting foreign nationals with bachelor degree or above. These 12 technological service industries include intellectual property technology, research and development, software development or work related to the Internet, bio- technology and pharmaceutical technology. For more information please call: 02-33435700 ext.724-730.

O

n October 16, 2003, the Investment Commission announced the “Directives for Technological Industries and R&D Institutions Applying for Foreign Graduate Students to Undertake Internships in Taiwan”. Effective immediately, all Taiwanese businesses with an R&D center, or juridical persons or research institutions with R&D capacity, may apply for foreign master’s or doctorate students to come to Taiwan as interns during the course of their studies. Pursuant to the said Directives, any business or institution filing such an application must satisfy the following criteria: (1) company revenue in the past year must exceed NT$10 million; (2) business expenses for juridical person in the past year must exceed NT$5 million; and (3) juridical person must have a staff of 50 persons or more. The Directives allow a 3-month stay for master’s students and a 6-month stay for doctorate students, and both are allowed to apply for one extension of stay. For more information please visit the following websites:

http://www.moeaic.gov.tw/Upload/News/921029-1.htm or http://www.moeaic.gov.tw/9/91.asp

O

n October 23, the Ministry of Interior also announced that effective immediately, Taiwanese public or private enterprises with capital or annual revenue of NT$10 million or more (originally NT$30 million), or industrial unions or associations that have been established for 1 year or more and possess a research institution or R&D capacity, may invite Mainland Chinese industrial technological personnel currently residing outside Mainland China or Taiwan, who engages in scientific and technological research or management and possesses a work permit (H-1) or permanent residency status (PR) at the place of residence, and who has a Master’s degree or above, to serve as industrial development or industrial technological consultant, provided that the period of stay in Taiwan does not exceed 6 years. At the same time, the restriction on the total number of persons permitted to come to Taiwan for R&D activities has been abolished to enhance industrial R&D for domestic businesses. The aforementioned restriction for the total number of Mainland Chinese personnel was limited to not more than 20% of the number of a company’s R&D staff. For more information, please visit the following websites:

http://www.moeaic.gov.tw/Upload/News/921029-2.htm; or http://www.immigration.gov.tw/aspcode/Show_Law.asp?

DocumentID=1503

(Above information was abstracted from:

http://www.cedi.cepd.gov.tw/tnen_info.php?

iPath=39&digests_id=401,

iPath=39&digests_id=404, and

iPath=39&digests_id=403

 ENFORCEMENT 

Taiwan Ranks Third in Global Technology Index

A

ccording to the Global Competitiveness Report 2003-2004 recently released by the World Economic Forum, Taiwan ranks fifth in “growth competitiveness” amongst the 102 countries being evaluated, a step up from its sixth place last year, trailing only behind Finland, the United States, Sweden and Denmark. Taiwan has ranked 1^st in Asia—surpassing Singapore—for 2 consecutive years.

T

he Report points out that Taiwan’s Technology Index Rank is particularly outstanding, ranking third globally, behind only the United States and Finland. This shows that Taiwan’s efforts in recent years to accelerate establishment of

(3)

international R&D centers, enhance R&D capacity, encourage training of hi-tech personnel, relax recognition of business R&D costs, and commercialization of industrial technologies have all directly benefited industrial development and upgrading and have contributed significantly to Taiwan’s economy. For more information please visit: http://www.weforum.org/ or www.cepd.gov.tw.

(Above information is abstracted from: http://www.cedi.

cepd.gov.tw/tnen_info.php?iPath=39&digests_id=410)

Taiwan Moves Towards “Innovation” and

“R&D” in Patent Work

A

ccording to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), Taiwan has performed extremely well in recent years in the quantity, strength and concentration of patents.

However, as the world enters into an age of fierce competition and marginal profits, Taiwan must abandon its previous focus on manufacturing and product improvements, and focus wholeheartedly on innovative and novel R&Ds.

Furthermore, Taiwanese businesses must emphasize and strengthen their IPR development strategies to address the concern of imbalance in technological trade.

I

n terms of privately funded or cooperative R&D projects, universities in Taiwan tend to be less active than their overseas counterparts. This reflects the problem of inadequate interaction between private industry and the academia in Taiwan. In order to keep up with global technological reforms, Taiwan needs to accelerate the reform of its university system, relax rigid education legislations, promote mobility of technological talents, and ensure spread of knowledge and capabilities.

T

IER points out that in 2002, Taiwan ranked second in terms of the number of patents filed in Mainland China and Japan, and fourth for 4 years running in terms of the number of approved patents in the U.S. These are all outstanding achievements. Since Taiwan’s R&D resources have primarily been directed to manufacturing semi-conductors, the superior quality of these semi-conductor patents means that Taiwanese patents are being cited more frequently. These remarkable achievements are reflected on the impact and technological influence indexes.

I

n addition, the 2003 State Intellectual Property Office of PRC (SIPO) Gazette shows that the Taiwanese company Foxconn had filed as many as 1,056 patent applications (with 200 inventions) with SIPO during 2002 alone, preceded only by Panasonic of Japan and Huawei Technologies of Mainland China. This indicates that Taiwanese businesses

are also successful in obtaining patents in Mainland China.

T

he Department of Industrial Technology (DOIT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs also indicates that under the impact of accelerated knowledge economy and globalization progress, knowledge and technological innovations have become the key in accelerating in global competition.

Advanced countries are actively promoting the restructuring of industrial organizations, developing emerging industries, and accelerating the reform of their innovation infrastructure to surpass their competitors in the race for economic and technological advancement. At this important stage, Taiwan must focus more on its industrial innovation capability and competitiveness, the utilization and protection of knowledge and intellectual property, business innovation management and strategies, the development of knowledge service industries, better collaboration of R&D systems, reform of scientific systems, implementation of global IPR strategies, and the development of industrial clusters.

D

OIT also highlights that the principal mission of the MOEA’s “Project for Promoting Industrial Innovation R&D Centers” is to redirect the previously outstanding ability of Taiwanese businesses in “manufacturing” and “management”

towards “innovations” and “R&D”. MOEA will encourage collaborations between industrial, academic and research sectors to facilitate innovations. Multinational companies will also be encouraged to establish local research centers.

The goal of the project is for Taiwan to attain a notable position for “innovations” and “brand recognition” in the global industrial within 5 years. MOEA will also encourage cooperation between Taiwanese companies and international corporations to establish long-term R&D centers in Taiwan.

T

he above information is abstracted from:

http://doit.moea.gov.tw/news/newscontent.asp?

ListID=0378&TypeID=4&CountID=107&IdxID=8&top_cid

= ; and http://doit.moea.gov.tw/news/newscontent.asp?

ListID=0376&TypeID=4&CountID=109&IdxID=10&top_ci d=

IETF Uncovered 2 IP-Infringement Cases in October, with Market Value Exceeding of NT$100 Million

T

he Integrated Enforcement Task Force (IETF) reports a total of 13 piracy cases in October, resulting in prosecution of 20 suspects, and a total market value of NT$400 million.

Two of these cases alone involved value over NT$100 million.

1. 2 cases of pirated optical disks sales over the Internet:

(1) On October 2, 4 suspects were arrested in Taipei for

(4)

selling various pirated optical disks on the Internet.

921 pirated audiovisual and software CDs, 1 1-on-7 CD duplicator, and 1 computer (including CD burner) were seized. Market value of the infringement exceeded NT$27.08 million. The case has been transferred to prosecutorial authorities.

(2) On October 2, a suspect was arrested in Kaohsiung for using the Internet to advertise pirated game disks for sale on Google, and permitting members of the public to order such disks via E-mail. 3,075 pirated game disks, audiovisual disks and program disks, 1 computer (with 1 CD burner), 2 DVD burners and 2 VCD burners were seized. Market value of the infringement exceeded NT$31.92 million. The case has been transferred to prosecutorial authorities.

2. 5 cases of pirated optical disks sales in computer games retail shops:

On October 3, 6 and 15, a total of 6 suspects were arrested in Taipei, Taoyuan, Tainan and Kaohsiung for selling pirated optical disks. 34,017 pirated PS game disks, PS2 game disks and DC game disks, 973 pirated game cartridges and all-in-one game machines were seized, with total market value exceeding NT$168 million. In one of the cases, the market value of infringement alone exceeded NT$125 million. All cases have been transferred to prosecutorial authorities.

3. 1 case of unlicensed computer jukebox:

On October 21, a suspect was arrested in Taichung for possessing unlicensed karaoke jukeboxes in his restaurant. 2 jukeboxes were seized with market value reaching approximately NT$25.5 million. The case has been transferred to prosecutorial authorities.

4. 5 cases of counterfeit name brands:

On October 2, 7, 13, 16 and 22, 8 suspects were arrested in markets, street vendors and stores in Taipei, Taoyuan and Taichung for selling counterfeit brand name products. Market value of the counterfeit products totaled NT$150 million, and in one case, the market value alone exceeded NT$1.42 million. All cases have been transferred to prosecutorial authorities.

 LAWS & REGULATIONS

New “Regulations Governing Registration of Plate Rights” to Enter Into Force on November 7, 2003

I

n line with the insertion of Article 79 of the Copyright Act concerning registration of trust in respect of plate rights, TIPO has amended the “Regulations Governing Registration of Plate Rights”, which was announced on September 2,

2003, and promulgated on November 5 pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

R

easons and main points for the amendments were described in Volume 11, Issue 9 of IPR News. The full text of the Regulations can be found at:

http://www.tipo.gov.tw/copyright/copyright_law/copyright_l aw_1_5.asp

TIPO Provides Interpretation of Queries Relating to Amended Copyright Act Provisions

I

n relation to the amended Copyright Act which entered into force on July 11, 2003, TIPO has recently issued a number of news releases concerning interpretation of the amended provisions for public reference and application:

1. Questions relating to the application of the amended Copyright Act

(For information in Chinese please visit:

http://www.tipo.gov.tw/copyright/copyright_news/copyright _changelaw.asp)

2. Copyright Act provisions concerning rental of copyrighted works and audiovisual optical disks advertised in newspapers:

http://www.tipo.gov.tw/service/news/ShowNewsContent.as p?wantDate=false&otype=1&postnum=3662&from=board) 3. Manufacture and sale of pirated optical disks as public

crime:

http://www.tipo.gov.tw/service/news/ShowNewsContent.

asp?postnum=3225&from=news) 4. Licensing of old movies:

asp?postnum=3688&from=news)

5. Legal implications of photocopying of books:

6. Works imported to Taiwan without consent of copyright owner may not be sold or rented:

7. Interpretation of query concerning whether exchange of MP3s via Kuro platform is a violation of the Copyright

(5)

Act:

asp?

wantDate=false&otype=1&postnum=3195&from=board)

TAIWAN IPR NEWS

PUBLISHER／JEN-SHYONG HO PUBLISHING AGENCY／

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF／YEA-KANG WANG INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION COMMITTEE, DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF／JOSEPH C. CHEN CHINESE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIES EDITORS／FRANCK LIN‧ANFERY HSU ADDRESS／12TH FL., 390, FU HSING S. RD., SEC. 1,

TRANSLATOR／PATTY LEE TAIPEI, TAIWAN, R.O.C.

TEL／886-2-27033500 FAX／886-2-27042477 E-MAIL／intell@cnfi.org.tw

THIS PUBLICATION IS FUNDED BY

THE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION OFFICE AND THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE, MOEA