Granting of Compulsory Licensing to be Decided by the Court or FTC.
E060321Y1 Apr. 2006（E77）
There has been much discussion in the aftermath of Taiwan’s granting of compulsory licensing on “Tamiflu”, which is the first in the world in response to the threat of avian flu pandemic. On March 20, 2006, a fierce debate on the compulsory licensing issue was going on in an international symposium. Some scholars maintained that compulsory licensing would impede the fair competition in the market, and examination on compulsory licensing application by the FTC (Fair Trade Commission) or the court would be more appropriate than by the TIPO (Taiwan Intellectual Property Office) as in the current system.
TIPO indicated that they are amending the Patent Act to have compulsory licensing applications subject to the FTC’s or the court’s examination.
Currently, the compulsory licensing-related provisions provided by the Patent Act are not questionable since they conform to those of TRIPS.
TIPO, however, expressed that there are indeed different opinions on the issues of discretionary power and examination authority for compulsory licensing. Some scholars hold that TIPO seems to lack comparable legal power to examine compulsory licensing cases, and it would be better and more appropriate to have such cases examined by the FTC or the court. TIPO will cover such opinions to the amendment of the Patent Act. (2006.3)
/CCS
