2019 Annual Report Intellectual Property Office

In 2019, all of us celebrated TIPO's 20 th anniversary. Looking back, with the booming of global economy, intellectual property rights (IPRs) were becoming more and more important in terms of a nation's competitiveness and protection of businesses' R&D results. The establishment of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has brought together efforts relating to patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, as well as piracy and counterfeit investigation authorities, an important milestone in promoting the Taiwan's IPR protection. Over the past two decades, TIPO has seen fluctuating economic scenes, technical innovations, and generational transition. Given our consistent dedication, Taiwan's IPR legal regime is in line with global counterparts, and there is continuous improvement in the quality and efficiency of patent and trademark examination. In addition, we proactively sought opportunities to join hands with key IP offices to increase our international visibility and build solid foundations for local businesses developing global portfolios. We spared no effort to continue optimizing our e-services and developing IPR talents so as to consolidate our IPR foundations. Optimizing IPR Legal Regime In November 2019, the amended Patent Act took effect in order to meet the needs of domestic industries and align with global IPR legal regimes. The term of design patent was extended from 12 to 15 years to facilitate development of local design industries. Also, the scope of applicability of division following approval decision was expanded to assist companies in developing global patent portfolios. Assisting measures were added to improve efficiency in examining patent invalidation cases. In copyright, the amended Copyright Act was promulgated on May 1 to block illegal access via set-top boxes and apps so as to facilitate development in domestic film, TV and music industries. Legislatively and globally, Taiwan was the first country to impose civil and criminal liability on providers of computer software enabling access to infringing websites. In trade secret laws, the amended Trade Secrets Act, which passed the third reading on December 31, now enacts the system of confidentiality protective order (CPO) to increase efficiency in relevant investigations. This system was aimed at helping prosecutors to expeditiously and efficiently investigate cases involving trade secret theft. DIRECTOR GENERAL'S MESSAGE TIPO Director General 2