2019 Annual Report Intellectual Property Office

III. IPR LEGAL REGIME To build a more efficient system of patent and trademark administrative remedies, TIPO held public consultation meetings and expert consultation meetings to discuss the direction of the reform. These events were very well received. Communication and coordination with the Judicial Yuan to the purpose is ongoing. The highlights of the reform include: (1) The levels of administrative remedies were streamlined and the "Review and Dispute Review Board" was set up by TIPO to strengthen the rigor of the review process. (2) Any party disagreeing with the Board's decision can file a lawsuit without undergoing an appeal process. The defendant side of the lawsuit will be changed from administrative organs to civilians to facilitate the offense and defense between two parties and increase litigation efficiency. 05 Revamp the System of Patent and Trademark Administrative Remedies a complaint, initiate a private prosecution, or institute a civil lawsuit and reciprocity principle to strengthen protection of foreigners' trade secrets. The key revisions include: (1) When necessary, a prosecutor may ex officio issue an investigation confidentiality protective order. (2) The victim, the defendants, or witnesses subject to the order are required to maintain confidentiality. (3) A confidentiality protective order shall be issued in writing or verbally, and a trade secret owner shall be afforded an opportunity to express opinions. (4) Those who violate the confidentiality protective order shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to three years, short-term imprisonment, and/or a fine of up to NT$1 million. To align with Taiwan's joining the CPTPP, TIPO spared no effort to amend the Patent Act, the Trademark Act, and the Copyright Act. The amendments, however, were not passed in 2019. The key revisions include: (1) Patent Act: the Act was amended to align with the patent linkage system of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, and the legal basis of filing a patent infringement complaint was added. (2) Trademark Act: any person intentionally imports counterfeit labels and packages will be held criminally liable. (3) Copyright Act: committing acts of significant digital piracy, distribution and public transmission is deemed as an indictable crime without a complaint. 06 Push for Amendments to IPR Laws for Joining the CPTPP 2019 TIPOANNUAL REPORT 49