Amended Patent Law Was Enforced on July 1, 2004.

Amended Patent Law, which was amended and promulgated on February 6, 2003, was enforced on July 1, 2004. This amendment contains the most revolutionary changes to the patent system through years, such as, decriminalization of patent infringement, abolishment of opposition procedure, and adoption of “examination as to form” for utility model patents, etc.. The amended Patent Law has amended 98 articles in total, inserted 24 articles, and deleted 32 articles since it was promulgated on February 6, 2003 by the presidential order. Deputy Director General of Intellectual Property Office (IPO) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Lu Wun-Siang (盧文祥), states that some significant reforms are involved in this amendment, and abolishment of criminal sanctions for patent offense is one of them. Criminal liability for invention patents infringement has been removed since October 4, 2001; likewise, criminal liability for utility models and new design patents has been no longer retained since March 31, 2003. Patent infringements will now be resolved by civil procedures. The right holder shall be responsible for adducing evidence without the police’s and the prosecutor’s participation in criminal investigation.

 

Also, the “examination as to form” procedure, instead of early publication and substantive examinations, is adopted for utility model patents. By this procedure, it will take IPO only 6 months to approve patent application and grant patent to the patent applicant. The patent applicant will be able to receive patent certificate after having paid up the annual fee for the first year and fee for certificate within 3 months upon the receipt of approval notification. In order to make up for the possibility of right misuse arising from not conducting substantive examinations, any person may apply to the specialized patent authority for a utility model patent technical report to clarify whether such a utility model patent meets patent requirements.

 

Besides, the abolishment of opposition procedure makes an early confirmation of patent right. By such a mechanism, the patentee will be able to can pay the fee and receive patent certificate after patent application has been approved without going through a three-month gazette period.

 

In the practice of patent examination, claim-by-claim examination makes the applicant realize patent application scope and patent citation. In the first examination, reasons of rejection or approval for an application will be rendered. Plus, IPO will notify the applicant in advance to provide the applicant with an opportunity to make supplements and explanations, thus increase the possibility of patent application interviews.

 

Deputy Director General of IPO, Lu Wun-Siang (盧文祥), expresses that with time transition and technology advancement, future patents will continue focusing on new design patents research, adopt the applicability of the “examination as to form” procedure, enhance patent examination training, raise the ratio of patent examination conducted by interior examiners, establish IPR virtual academy, and set up IPR specialized court, so as to forge a high quality environment of patent protection in Taiwan. (2004.06)

CYJ/CCS