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Intellectual Property Court inaugurated

Kao Hsiu-chen, president of the Intellectual Property Court, talks at the inauguration of the court in Banciao, Taipei County, yesterday. PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

The nation’s first intellectual property court was inaugurated yesterday in line with the government’s plan to strengthen protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).

The Intellectual Property Court has nine judges and two courtrooms to oversee intellectual property-related civil, criminal and administrative cases. All nine judges have experience in dealing with intellectual property and copyright issues.

The court has temporarily transferred nine officers from the Intellectual Property Bureau to serve as advisers and assist the judges with their technical expertise.

“With these professional judges and facilities, it is our hope that intellectual property will be well protected in Taiwan in the future,” Intellectual Property Court President Kao Hsiu-chen (高秀真) said.

She said that the court would cover a wide range of subjects and areas such as trademark patent and copyright infringements, business secrets and integrated circuits.

The judges were drawn from the Taipei High Administrative Court and other courts and underwent four months of on-the-job training to prepare for their new duties, Kao said.

Preparations for the establishment of the special court began in 2004 with the collection and study of information on similar courts in other countries such as Germany, Japan and the US, Kao said.

Officials who attended the inauguration ceremony in Banciao (板橋), Taipei County, included Judicial Yuan President Lai In-jaw (賴英照), Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), State Public Prosecutor-General Chen Tsung-ming (陳聰明), Intellectual Property Office Director General Wang Mei-hua (王美花), American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young and Wu Chin-chih (吳清池), convener of the legislature’s Judicial Committee.

Wang said that the US government had played an important role in establishing the mechanism for IPR protection in Taiwan with its emphasis on protecting intellectual property.

Taiwan’s accession into the WTO in 2002 also necessitated compliance with the global trade body’s IPR standards, she said.

The court’s prosecutors’ office was a branch of the Taiwan High Court’s Prosecutors’ Office. Although the new Intellectual Court is in Banciao, four prosecutors will initially share facilities with other high court prosecutors at the old building on Yanping S Road in Taipei City until a new office location is selected.
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