TIPS^®  Taiwan Intellectual Property Special

The Foreign Intellectual Properties Will be Retroactively Protected After the Entry into WTO

The Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economics (IPO) recently indicated that, to facilitate our entry into WTO in year 2000, all of the IP laws would comply with the WTO/TRIPs.

The essential action is the amendments of relevant IP laws, such as the “retroactive protection” for foreign copyright, trademark, and patent. The “retroactive protection” provision has been enacted and shall be promulgated upon our entry into WTO. Accordingly, even if a foreign work is not protected by our IP law due to the lack of reciprocity agreement, it will be retroactively protected after our entry into WTO.

To comply with the “boarder protection regime,” the custom will also carries out an “export monitoring system” to prevent the illegal computer software from exportation.