A two-month intensive preventive action to start for the protection of IPR

Announcing this year is the “IPR Protection Year”, the Executive Yuan instructed procuratorial, military, police, and investigative apparatus, the IPO of MOEA as well as the DGOC of MOF to cooperate in a largest-ever prevention starting off from this 30^th and lasting for two months.  The Prosecutor’s Office of the Taiwan High Court is designated to form a preventive action panel, which will hold a special meeting to draft concrete preventive acts, coordinate assignments, and review execution results. 

 

In an effort to keep in line with the promulgation and implementation of the Optical Disk Law on last November 16, the preventive action panel, inter alia, lists underground optical disk factories as one of its main targets.  Factories permission from the competent authority shall not engage in the manufacture of optical disks.  Violators may be shut down forcefully.  Factories denied permission but engaging in such manufacture may be punished with a fine ranging from NT$1,500,000-3,000,000.  Additionally, the DGOC is responsible for supervising local customs offices which shall reinforce border control measures as of IPO protection.  Any personnel successfully uncovering factories and major counterfeit suppliers will be generously rewarded.  The IPO of MOEA and the Government Information Office will also provide rewards for IPR violation reports.  Further, police will be severely pursued for their liabilities for failure to provide early information on counterfeit-making factories uncovered within its jurisdiction. 

 

This nationwide clampdown action against counterfeit beginning this January 30 has uncovered 24 counterfeit-makers.  Uncovered articles include renowned fluff toy counterfeits, counterfeit purses and pirated optical disks.  23 counterfeiters were interviewed and transferred to respective district prosecutor’s offices for violating the Trademark Law, Copyright Law and Patent Law.  Also in this preventive action, it is found that a large-scale counterfeit toys dealer had a factory set up in the Mainland China to manufacture semi-finished products which were later shipped back to Taiwan for assembly and sale.  This sort of crime is seldom seen before.

 

Source: China Times 01/30/2002

Translated by Jem Chung