Taiwan and the UK sign an MOU on the deposit of biological materials for the purposes of patent procedure - 2018.01.02

On November 29, 2017, Director General Hong Shu-min of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) embarked on a visit to the UK. During her visit, she signed an MOU on the deposit of biological materials for the purposes of patent procedure with Chief Executive Officer Tim Moss of the Intellectual Property Office of the UK.

TIPO has always attached great importance to facilitating cooperation on the deposit of biological materials with other countries, which is in line with one of Taiwan’s major policies to promote the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. As most patent applications filed to TIPO by UK nationals or companies are in the fields of biotechnology, medicine, and pharmaceuticals, and as the number of application has been on the increase in recent years, TIPO approached the UK IPO on its initiative to explore the possibility of working together on this front. After years of hard work, the two offices finally signed in London on December 1, 2017, the MOU, which has come into effect immediately. This is yet another milestone for TIPO, further expanding its cooperation with other IP authorities, after it facilitated the signing of a similar MOU between Taiwan and Japan in 2015.

On December 1, 2017, TIPO and the UK IPO also held a heads meeting to exchange views on issues of mutual concern, including measures to combat online copyright infringement and to improve the quality of patent examination, Taiwan’s online patent application system, and the post-Brexit impact on IP matters. The two sides both agreed to continue their dialogue and have discussions on issues such as IP support for SMEs through desktop video conferences in the future...https://www.tipo.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=653420&ctNode=6687&mp=2

Executive Yuan passed draft amendment to Copyright Act on October 26 - 2017.12.19

In response to the advanced development in digital technology and the Internet, on October 26, the Executive Yuan passed the draft amendment to the Copyright Act, which is composed of 145 articles. The draft amendment has been sent to the Legislative Yuan for further review. The key revisions are:
Definitions for “public broadcasting” and “public transmission” were adjusted. New provisions on the “right to simultaneous further communication to the public” were added.
New provisions were added that performers whose performances are fixated on audiovisual fixations such as DVDs may enjoy the same rights currently stipulated as singers whose performances are fixed on phonograms.
Provisions on fair use of copyrighted works by the general public were adjusted.
Provisions on compulsory licensing of works of unknown economic right holders were added.
Outdated provisions on criminal liability were amended....more

TIPO revised and made public the Examination Guidelines on Non-traditional Trademarks on September 12, 2017 - 2017.10.31

On September 12, 2017, TIPO revised and made public the Examination Guidelines on Non-traditional Trademarks, which has come into effect on September 14. For more information, please visit: https://www.tipo.gov.tw/sys.content.asp?mp=1&CuItem=285299&ctNode=7048

IPR Trends Jan-Jun 2017: Patent and Trademark Statistics - 2017.09.22

IPR Trends Jan-Jun 2017: Patent and Trademark Statistics

A. Patent Applications
1. New applications for all three types of patents rose by 3% to 35,566 cases.
2. Inventions (21,913) and designs (3,959) were up by 6% and 0.4%. Meanwhile, utility models (9,694) applications were down by 2% (Table 1).
3. Inventions by residents (8,086) and non-residents (13,827) were up by 9% and 5% (Table 1).
4. By country, Japan (6,275) came on top, followed by the US (3,244), South Korea (822), China (807), and Hong Kong (589) (Fig.1).
5. The top five domestic corporations filing new invention patents were TSMC (329), Hon Hai (215), MTK(165), Acer (136), and AU Optronics (129) (Fig.2)...read more