Taiwan’s legislature greenlights draft bill to establish Intellectual Property and Commercial Court

E201218Y9・E191217Y9 Jan. 2020(E242)
 According to a press release issued by the Judicial Yuan of Taiwan on December 17, 2019, the draft bill of “Commercial Case Adjudication Act” and the draft bill to amend the “Intellectual Property Court Organization Act” respectively received its third reading at the Legislative Yuan, which will operate to establish a significant and epochal system for resolving material commercial disputes in a more prompt and professional manner.  

Highlights of the draft bill of Commercial Case Adjudication Act, which contains a total of 81 provisions in 7 separate chapters: 

1.  Use of E-facility:  All briefs or documents shall be submitted through online system, and the court may hear cases by conducting distance interrogation with audio visual facilities.  It will be convenient for litigants to use electronic submission system.  

2.  Establishment of specialty court:  The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court will be established at the same level as the High Court to have jurisdiction over significant commercial matters in a two-level and two-instance adjudication system so as to seek prompt finalization of commercial disputes.  

3.  Mandatory representation by attorneys:  Attorney(s) shall be engaged to represent the parties to a commercial dispute in litigation procedures to effectively identify the disputable issues and to enhance trial efficiency.  

4.  Mandatory preliminary mediation:  Pre-trial mediation for commercial disputes must be conducted by mediators with relevant expertise, so as to seek resolution of commercial disputes by and between the parties and to reduce weariness in litigation.  

5.  Expert witness and litigant’s inquiry system:  Parties to an action may request for expert witnesses’ opinions and also raise inquiries or request for explanations by the other party, so as to expedite court proceedings.  

6.  Confidentiality preservation order:  If any documents, objects to be examined or inspected, or materials required for assessment involve trade secrets, the holder(s) of such documents, objects, or materials may request for the court’s issuing confidentiality preservation order to facilitate fact finding and confidentiality preservation at the same time.  

Moreover, the “Intellectual Property Court Organization Act” is amended and renamed as “Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act” to establish a specialized commercial court that will consolidate the existing IP Court as the IP and Commercial Court.  

Organizational features of the IP and Commercial Court are introduced below.   

1.  The IP and Commercial Court is established to hear significant commercial disputes or events as defined by paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the Draft Commercial Case Adjudication Act by a three-judge panel in two-instance court (details set forth in Article 2, Article 3, and Article 6 of the amended Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act).  Also, the IP and Commercial Court will be instituted to comprise the IP Tribunal and Commercial Tribunal (details set forth in Article 9, Article 10, and Article 15 of the amended Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act).  In addition, the judges of the Commercial Tribunal may be elected from candidates who have served as a practicing attorney with commercial expertise, research associates of the Academia Sinica in the relevant fields, or public servants.  

2.  The IP and Commercial Court shall have commercial examiners with expertise in accounting, investment, financial analysis, economic and financial market, who shall assist judges in collecting, analyzing, and determining on commercial information and questions (details set forth in Article 16 and Article 17 of the amended Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act).

  With the enforcement of the Draft Commercial Case Adjudication Act and the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act, the new court will be able to hear and conclude significant commercial cases in a prompt and professional manner, which will ultimately optimize Taiwan’s business environment and elevate competitiveness.  (December 2019) 
/CCS

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