Jiaosi Township Office recently held a news conference to announce it will implement a new eco-friendly, resource recycling initiative, dubbed “Use it again.” The program will take the public’s recycled glass bottles and turn them into stylish and creative fairy light lamps, to give discarded bottles a new lease of life.
Jiaosi Township Mayor Chang Yung-te says they will either be given as presents to guests, or sold for between NT$400 to NT$500 per “bottle lamp” which will be used to top-up the township’s reserve fund. However, Lin Ching-piao, an inventor based in nearby Toucheng Township, claims the office has stolen his idea.
According to Lin, he came up with the idea of using discarded glass liquor bottles to make artistic fairy light lamps after returning to live in Yilan from Taipei. Lin says he noticed that Toucheng’s coastline was covered in trash and wanted to find a way to re-use the waste. Following a long and arduous period of research and development, Lin claims he came up with a novel way to make the lamps without the need for batteries by developing a method for drilling a hole in the sides of the bottles to allow the flex to pass through and connect the lamps to mains electricity. Lin says he hoped his invention would not only help promote an eco-friendly ethos, but would also provide him with a modest income so that he could continue inventing.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林敬倫
Lin says that on Aug. 23, the office’s Clean-up Team invited him to hold a workshop as they were interested in his inventions and wanted to use his idea for a county-level recycling competition. Lin maintains he was completely open with the team and shared with them everything he knew. However, he says he felt extremely distressed to see that not only did the office fail to credit him at the news conference, but they also plan to profit from his invention.
It’s not easy to make a living as an inventor, Lin says. After many years toiling away in Taipei, he hoped to return to my hometown to support his family. Lin says that the office has infringed upon his intellectual property rights and is competing for profit with private enterprise. He says he hopes the office and Yilan County Government will address the problem, issue a public apology and stop profiteering from the public.
However, Chang says his office has conducted an investigation and determined that creative decorative lamps are not covered by any patents, while instructional information to make them is widely available on the Internet. The idea is not Lin’s alone and there has been no infringement of intellectual property rights, Chang says.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林敬倫
Chang says the main purpose of the office’s initiative is to cooperate with Environmental Protection Administration guidance on the environment and the recycling and re-use of resources. There is no intention to profit from the public and, by taking the lead, the office will expand the market and increase the size of the “pie.” Furthermore, 10 percent of profits generated by the initiative will be donated to disadvantaged groups and the remainder will go into the township’s reserve fund, Chang says.
(Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
礁溪鄉公所日前召開發表會，宣布為響應環保愛地球，落實資源回收「再利用」，將民眾的廢棄玻璃瓶化腐朽為神奇創造文創線燈賦予再利用價值。
Photo: Chang Yi-chen, liberty Times
照片：自由時報記張議晨
礁溪鄉長張永德更表示，將把燈飾作為致贈貴賓的禮品，並且對外販售，一瓶約四百至五百元，來充實鄉庫，但來自附近的頭城鎮文創業者林清標聲稱廢玻璃瓶變身文創燈飾是他的創意。
林清標說，使用酒瓶線燈裝置藝術是他從台北回到宜蘭之後，看到頭城海岸到處都是垃圾，為了讓回收資源得到充分的利用，歷經艱辛研發的成果，線燈不用電池，並有孔洞接插座，都是他獨創，希望藉此推廣環保理念，並賺取些微費用當作前進的動力。
林清標指出，去年八月二十三日，礁溪清潔隊因喜愛他這樣的創意，想要用他的創意參加縣內的環保回收利用比賽，遂邀請他到清潔隊教學，他毫不藏私地到清潔隊內傾囊相授，但公所成果發表會不但對他隻字未提，還要拿他的創意來牟利，令他很痛心。
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林敬倫
他指出，在地文創業者原本就生存不易，在台北打拼多年後回到家鄉，希望藉由自己的文化創意來養家糊口，但礁溪鄉公所卻侵權還與民爭利，盼公所地方政府能夠正視這樣的問題，出面道歉並停止與民爭利的行為。
張永德說，經公所調查，文創燈飾並沒有專利，網路上都有教學，非林清標所有，沒有侵權的問題。
張永德說，公所製作這樣的燈飾，主要是要配合環保署的資源回收再利用宣導，沒有要與民爭利，且由公所帶頭做，更能把市場的餅做大，未來收入的百分之十將捐給弱勢族群，剩餘的收入則會回歸鄉庫。
(自由時報記者林敬倫)
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