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III
IPR LEGISLATIONS
▓
Patent Regulations
III. IPR LEGISLATIONS
▓
Patent Act
1
2
In response to the development
trends of digital technology and the in-
dustries, TIPO reviewed and revised IPR
related laws and regulations. In addition
to publishing the first draft amendment
to the Copyright Act and holding public
hearings to assemble public opinions,
Regulations Governing Customs Detain-
ing Goods Suspected of Patent Infringe-
ment was established in conjunction
with the Patent Act. Also, amendment
to part of the Patent Attorney Act was
proposed, and the Enforcement Rules of
the Patent Act and Patent Examination
Guidelines were revised.
Since the new Patent Act came into
effect on January 1, 2013, it underwent
another amendment in May to further
protect the rights and interests of pat-
ent owners as well as to balance public
interests. This new amendment includes
adopting the principle of continuation
of rights for filing two applications for
the same creation, introducing award
of punitive damages, and stipulating a
patentee shall not issue warning(s) with-
out presenting a utility model technical
evaluation report. In January 2014, bor-
der protection measures were added
to regulate procedural requirements for
detainment, conditions for repeal of de-
tainment, and compensation for dam-
ages. This new amendment came into
effect on March 24, 2014.
Regulations Governing Customs Detaining Goods Suspected of Pat-
ent Infringement
Given the complexity involved in
detainment, the Patent Act stipulates
that the Ministry of Economic Affairs
and the Ministry of Finance should jointly
formulate regulations on carrying out
customs detainment. On March 24,
the Regulations Governing Customs
Detaining Goods Suspected of Patent
Infringement went into effect along with
the Patent Act to regulate procedural
requirements for detainment, repeal of
detainment, verification of detained
goods, procedures for payment, provi-
sion, and return of security or assurance,
required documents, as well as other im-
portant matters.