TIPS^®  Taiwan Intellectual Property Special

FTC Investigated in Antitrust Issue of Taiwan Microsoft

While the Executive Yuan made this year “Action Year of IPR Protection,” the Ministry of Justice started to strengthen the enforcement of the ban on pirate software on May 1, 2002. Such determination of intellectual property protection nevertheless caused “anti-antipiracy” protest by students, demonstrating that the price of software is too high to be affordable Facing the increasing objections against Microsoft’s monopolistic power, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in Taiwan established on May 3 an “Investigation Group of Monopoly on Software Market” to investigate whether Microsoft’s practice in Taiwan violated the Fair Trade Law. On the same day, several legislators reported to the FTC that Microsoft, by its dominant market position, monopolizing the business of computer operating system software to gain undue profits. The FTC consolidated the report and the Investigation Group’s project.

The Representative of the Investigation Group pointed out that whether Microsoft’s practice violated Fair Trade Law depends on the weights of the evidence. The investigation will head in 4 major directions: 1. Whether the prices were manipulated; 2. Whether the enterprise, i.e., Microsoft, unduly fixed the prices by its dominant market power; 3. Whether the enterprise influenced the market by its economic power; and 4. How to strike a balance between Intellectual Property Protection and protection of consumer welfare. It was emphasized by the FTC that Intellectual Property Protection is the established national policy; on the other hand, the FTC also keeps a close look at whether the intellectual property rights are duly exercised. Any event of undue exercise may be a violation of the Fair Trade Law.

Newly Admitted Judicial Judges Will Take Practical Training in Finance or Economics Departments before Taking Official Position The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) recently reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), allowing newly admitted judges particle training in the MOF or MOEA. By strengthening judges’ understanding in the financial and economic professional fields, accurate fact-finding and law application can be achieved in combating various economics, financial and computer related crimes.

The MOJ, along with MOF and MOEA, plans to divide the professional fields into 2 groups for judges’ practical training. The first group includes the tax, custom, banking, and security departments in the MOF; the second group includes international trades and intellectual property departments in the MOEA. During the practical training, the judges may choose the training departments according to their specialties and wills. The practical training shall include at least 2 professional departments for a term of 6 months. By this plan, it can be expected that the judges can understand more about the relevant financial and economics operations in order to strengthen the power to combat intellectual property infringements and financial crimes.