Judicial Yuan to Propose Amending Article 5 of the Intellectual Property Court Organization Act.

According to the Intellectual Property Court Organization Act, a special branch of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors Office shall be set up in the Intellectual Property Court (hereinafter “IPCPO branch”) to take charge of the prosecutorial affairs of IP related criminal cases appealed to the court of second instance.  However, absent a defined scope of the functions and duties of the IPCPO branch, there have been disputes over whether district prosecutors should still file the motions for reconsideration of IP related prosecution cases with the High Court Prosecutors Office or with the IPCPO branch.

In light of the designated special functions of the IPCPO branch, the prosecution’s motions for reconsideration of IP related criminal cases should be filed with the IPCPO branch in consideration of consistency of legal opinions and general coordination of investigative work.  Accordingly, the Judicial Yuan will propose to amend Article 5 of the Intellectual Property Court Organization Act by adding a second paragraph to the article to provide the legal authority of the Chief Prosecutor of the IPCPO branch to handle motions for reconsiderations and/or other matters generally handled by the relevant superior prosecutors office legally authorized to do so.  The IPCPO branch will be vested with the powers and authority to supervise the handling of prosecutorial affairs arising from IP related cases by district courts and district prosecutors.


Article 5 of the Intellectual Property Court Organization Act:

Amendment proposed

Current provision

The type and the required number of personnel for the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, Intellectual Property Branch shall be set up as the counterpart of the Intellectual Property Court in accordance with the Schedule. The Chief Prosecutor of the Intellectual Property Court Branch of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors Office shall be the Chief Prosecutor of the direct superior prosecutors office to the relevant district court and its prosecutors office in handling the criminal cases provided in subparagraphs 2 and 4 of Article 3.

The type and the required number of personnel for the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, Intellectual Property Branch shall be set up as the counterpart of the Intellectual Property Court in accordance with the Schedule.

(2009.09)
/EMA