65. The representative of Chinese Taipei said that since Chinese Taipei became a WTO Member on 1 January 2002, his delegation had submitted a total of 26 notifications on Chinese Taipei's IP related laws and regulations. In the past couple of years, members of the working party on Chinese Taipei's accession to the WTO had made a great effort to review all relevant laws and regulations in order to ensure their WTO conformity. Chinese Taipei's IP legislation, in particular, was one of the areas in respect of which members of the working party had expressed their satisfaction. However, his Government would not be contented with the past achievements. It understood that IP related matters evolved with ever growing society and legislation should be able to cope with the rapid progress in modern technology.
66. In order to respond to these challenges, several draft amendments to copyright law, trademark law, patent law and plant seed law were now under either administrative or legislative review. His delegation would notify the Council after the completion of these amendments. He said that the Council was welcome to take up these matters and arrange their review in due course. In fact, some Members had already demonstrated their interest in them by raising specific questions concerning these draft amendments. For the sake of transparency, his delegation would try its best to address these questions even though the amendment proposals were not yet ready for review. His Government had attached great importance to this review exercise, and it had organised a big team from the relevant agencies to answer the questions already submitted and to any follow-up questions, to the extent possible, already at he present meeting. He expressed his gratitude to those Members who had posed questions for the close interest that they had taken in Chinese Taipei IP legislation.
67. He said that his Government had always considered the constant improvement of IPR protection a high priority on its trade agenda. Chinese Taipei firmly believed that technological innovation, transfer and dissemination of technology could only be promoted through adequate and proper IPR protection, and this was instrumental to its sustainable trade development conducive to the enhancement of its social and economic welfare. Chinese Taipei recognized the importance of bringing its IPR regime into compliance with international norms. In connection with its accession to the WTO, Chinese Taipei Government had revised and implemented IPR laws and regulations to bring the level of its IPR protection regime not only in conformity with the TRIPS Agreement but also with other relevant international conventions. He said that his Government continued to duly modify its IPR related laws and regulations to conform to international norms. Noting that Members had raised questions relating to Chinese Taipei's copyright, trademark, geographical indications, industrial designs, patents, plant varieties, IC layouts, undisclosed information, and enforcement, he introduced a few main points of the legal system in each field of intellectual property rights in order to enable Members to comprehend the issues within a broader perspective and with reference to the Chinese Taipei IPR legislative system.
68. The current Copyright Law, which had entered into force on 14 November 2001, was formulated in accordance with the TRIPS Agreement in combination with the Berne Convention. All the nationals of WTO Members were entitled to receive the same level of copyright protection as theirs. The Copyright Law provided for, retroactively, from the date of Chinese Taipei's accession to the WTO, the term of copyright protection for author's life plus fifty years or fifty years from the date of first publication.
69. The existing Trademark Law had been amended in 1997 and put into force on 1 November 1998. Combinations of colours were eligible for protection. In addition, the right holder might now request for the destruction or other necessary disposal of the infringing goods or of the materials or implements that had been utilised to conduct such infringing act. In order to further extend protection on well known trademarks or service marks, Chinese Taipei had referred to the Joint Recommendation concerning provisions on the protection of well known marks that had been adopted by the assembly of the Paris Union for the protection of industrial property and by the General Assembly of WIPO in September 1999. The Main Points for Determining Well Known Marks and Service Marks 2000 had been established in accordance with the said Joint Recommendation. Geographical indications were protected as required by the TRIPS Agreement. Relevant laws and regulations to provide such protection included the Fair Trade Law and Trademark Law. In addition, the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Law had been enacted on 19 April 2000. Under the said law, the Regulations Governing the Labeling of the Alcohol Products had been enacted on 30 December 2000. Those provisions provided alcohol products with the additional protection.
70. Invention patents, new utility model patents and new design patents were protected under Chinese Taipei's Patent Law. The latest amendment to the Patent Law, in connection with its accession to the WTO, had entered into force on 1 January 2002. Provisions such as national treatment of priority claim, patentable subject-matter, term of protection, rights conferred, exceptions to rights conferred and other use without authorization of the right holder were in conformity with the TRIPS Agreement. The Integrated Circuit Layout Protection Act had been put into force on 11 February 1996. It complied with the TRIPS Agreement and the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (adopted in Washington on 26 May 1989). Part of the Integrated Circuit Layout Protection Act had been amended and promulgated on 12 June 2002. The protection of trade secrets had originally been found in regulations deriving from the Civil Law, Criminal Law and Fair Trade Law. Pursuant to Article 39.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, the Government had enacted the Trade Secret Law in 1996 to clarify provisions governing the related definition, belonging, infringement and civil compensations. The post marketing surveillance system on new drugs had been implemented since 1993. All test data submitted for the approval of the competent authority enjoyed the above mentioned pipeline protection. He believed that this system was in conformity with Article 3 9 of the TRIPS Agreement.
71. IPR enforcement was of great importance to IP protection. Chinese Taipei had undertaken stringent enforcement measures to deal with trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy. The enforcement mechanism of intellectual property rights involved government agencies at different levels, including courts, prosecution offices, police, Customs, Intellectual Property Office and the Anti Counterfeiting Committee of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Implementation Regulation for Suspension of Release of Goods Infringing on Copyrights or Plate Rights by Customs Authorities had been implemented to prohibit the importation and exportation of goods that violated copyright laws. To combat counterfeiting and piracy activities, in particular, on pirated optical disks, the Optical Disk Law (ODL) had been enacted and it had entered into force on 16 November 2001. The Joint Optical Disk Enforcement Task Force (JODE) – a team dedicated to combat counterfeiting and piracy – had been established to integrate the personnel and resources of relevant authorities to effectively crack down, with the assistance of the police force, counterfeiting and piracy. Business entities were not allowed to manufacture optical disks unless they obtained the approval for filing of source identification code of optical disks in advance. To raise public awareness on the importance of IPR protection, the Government had declared the year 2002 as the "Action Year of IPR Protection". In conjunction of this announcement, numerous crackdowns had been carried out islandwide on counterfeiting and piracy since 30 January 2002. It was expected that more and better performance results would be achieved.
72. Chinese Taipei attached great importance to adequate and effective IPR protection. It also looked at IPR protection as an indispensable part of daily life. As a Member of the WTO, the Government would actively participate in the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations on the TRIPS Agreement. Chinese Taipei was determined to bring its IP related laws and regulations into conformity with the TRIPS Agreement and other relevant international conventions.
73. In conclusion, the representative of Chinese Taipei said that the era of information technology had brought huge impact on the scope and architecture of the IPR protection regime. To deal with such an unprecedented challenge, WTO Members had properly and timely revised their IPR related disciplines. Chinese Taipei was no exception. To keep its IPR regime duly updated in parallel with that taking place both at the WTO and in other international conventions, Chinese Taipei believed that technical assistance was necessary. This would enable it to have access to relevant IPR related information and to participate in IPR related activities, and enable it to fulfill its notification obligations reflecting transparency as required by the TRIPS Agreement.
