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Innovation, not piracy

In the recent article on the Kuro P2P criminal court decision ("Kuro bosses guilty of IPR violations," Sept. 10, page 1), I was incorrectly quoted as saying that the ruling may help Taiwan get off the US Trade Representative's Watch List next year.

Many industries have recently observed serious problems with Taiwan's inaction on IP cases.

Against this backdrop of apparent backsliding on IP protection promises and the bizarre Ezpeer P2P case decision, I said that this Kuro decision was a positive step that might help keep Taiwan from being downgraded right back to the "Priority Watch" list.

Taiwan had made great progress with intellectual-property protections after its WTO accession, and it's fair to say that all of us who care about these issues were happy to see Taiwan's efforts recognized when it was upgraded from "Priority Watch" to "Watch List" last year.

However, in a very disturbing trend in the months since Taiwan's upgrade, we are getting regular reports of prosecutors and judges refusing to take on intellectual-property cases where clear evidence of infringement has been presented. In this context, the Kuro case decision's tougher sentencing is a bit of good news but simply not enough to justify yet another upgrade.

The protection of intellectual property within Taiwan benefits all concerned. Taiwan's inventors are consistently the fourth most prolific, judging from patent registrations into the US, and strong protections would give confidence to companies considering R&D projects in Taiwan's new technology parks.

Effective trademark enforcement goes to the heart of protecting companies' hard-earned reputations and the common consumers' hard-earned dollars.

Meanwhile, increased protection against counterfeit alcohol-beverage, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products are essential to protecting the health of Taiwan's population. While there was some solid improvement right after the WTO accession, it is absolutely essential that Taiwan continue moving forwards to make this island a center for innovation instead of a well-protected haven for rampant piracy.

John Eastwood
Intellectual Property Rights Committee co-chair, European Chamber of Commerce Taipei
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