TIPS^®  Taiwan Intellectual Property Special

Copyright Owners and P2P Music Platform Reached Settlement

In the past year, there were split court decision regarding P2P file-sharing platform rendered in Taiwan and each went into the appeal procedural. The lengthy litigation made both of the copyright owners and the defendants tired of waiting, and tried to reach a settlement outside of the court.

Even the courts is split in finding whether the P2P file-sharing platform engages in copyright infringement, it is for sure that the users who share files using such platform are conducting illegal copying, even though the users may already paid a user fee to use the file-sharing service. This is the reason that P2P music-sharing platform, EZPEER, despite its victory in the district court, still actively sought for settlement with the music copyright owners. After negotiating for a year, EZPEER reached a settlement with music copyright owners in late June. Such a settlement ended 4 years of the copyright disputes between EZPEER and the copyright owners and frees EZPEER’s users from the risk of being charged for copyright infringement.

With the technology advance, digital music has become the mainstream of the music market and the market for CD sales is sharking. The lawfully licensed P2P music-sharing site will be able to bring the music industry into the new business model. The defendant of another P2P copyright dispute, KURO, also attended the final settlement between EZPEER and the music copyright owners, and is expected to reach a settlement soon.

Draft to Propose Open Protection to Animals, Plants, and Related Methodologies for Producing or Growing Same Under Article 24, Paragraph 1(1) of the current Patent Law, animals, plants, and major biological methodologies for producing or growing and animals and/or plants (except the methodologies for producing microorganisms) are considered non-statutory subject matter. In response to the Committee Resolution dated August 24, 2005 by the Biotechnology Industry Advisory Team of the Executive Branch, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has proposed on May 11, 2006 in the Draft of Partial Amendments to Taiwan Patent Law to open protection to animals, plants, and related methodologies for producing or growing same.

To follow the footsteps of USPTO, JPO and KPO, the TIPO has decided to eradicate all limitations regarding animal and plant protection from the current Patent Law. However, the explanations provided for the Draft specifically pointed out that
the methodologies for reproducing humans are still considered inventions that are contrary to public order, good moral or sanitation, whereby they are still non-statutory subject matter.

In the same proposal, “non-profit seeking private acts” and “necessary acts for carrying out an invention for research or experimental purposes only” are excluded from the effect of an invention patent right. Furthermore, the Draft made reference to Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, and stipulated that the effect of an invention patent right shall not extend to biological material directly obtained from the propagation or multiplication of biological material placed on the market by the holder of the patent or with his consent, where the multiplication or propagation necessarily results from the application for which the biological material was marketed, provided that the material obtained is not subsequently used for other propagation or multiplication, nor shall the effect extend to acts of a farmer who uses the product of his harvest for propagation or multiplication by him on his own farm after the sale of plant propagating material to the farmer by the holder of the patent or with his consent.

The general public generally agreed with the proposals, and the partial amendments to the Patent Law will take effect once they passed the bill's third reading in the Legislative Branch.