Executive Yuan approves draft amendments to Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act and Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act

　The Executive Yuan issued a press release to the effect that the Executive Yuan passed the draft amendments to the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act and to the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act on October 29, 2022, and that the Executive Yuan and the Judicial Yuan jointly sent the draft amendments to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation, in order to have IP-related cases heard and adjudicated in professional, appropriate, expeditious process and also to enhance competitiveness.  

Main points of the two draft amendments are summarized as follows.  

1.  Amendment to partial provisions of the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act

(1)  The scope of jurisdiction of the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court (hereinafter the “IPC Court”) is amended.  (Article 3 amended)

(2)  In principle, civil actions in the IPC Court shall be tried by a collegial panel of three judges.  The proposed amendment sets out the scenarios of exceptions where the actions at the IPC Court shall be heard and tried by a single judge.  (Article 6 amended)

(3)  Revisions are made in the proposed amendment to impose restrictions on the selection and appointment of the divisional chief judge of the intellectual property court and the commercial court under the IPC Court, the reassignment of judges or category of selection, and on the category of affairs the judges handle and try (Article 9, Article 10, and Article 15 amended)

(4)  The proposed amendment adds the criteria and qualifications for appointment of commercial investigation officers.  (Article 17 amended)

2.  Amendment to the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act

(1)  Introduction of new measures and practices and adoption of mandatory representation by an attorney 

The measures of “trial plan”, neutral technical expert’s “verification” in evidence gather proceedings, “expert witness”, and “amicus curiae system” are introduced to the procedure of IP-related civil cases.  Also, the system of mandatory representation by attorneys is adopted and relevant provisions are amended to alleviate the burden of proof resting with the plaintiff, and to reinforce protection of trade secrets involved in IP-related civil cases. (Article 18, Article 19, Article 28, and Article 29 amended) 

(2)  In response to the draft amendments to the partial provisions of the Patent Act and Trademark Act proposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on April 19, 2022, the proposed amendment replaces administrative litigation currently adopted for the administrative remedy procedure for patent and trademark cases with adversarial system under civil procedure and also incorporates new provisions with respect to the reexamination and dispute of patent or trademark cases.  (Article 55, Article 56, and Article 58 amended) 

(3)  In order to answer to the expectations for the enforced trade secrets protection and to fulfill adjudication of IP cases in a professional and proper manner, the proposed amendment sets forth that jurisdiction over the first instance of the criminal cases involving violation of Article 13-1 of the Trade Secrets Act is transferred from the district courts to the IP Court under the IPC Court, and that in response to the regulation of the 2nd paragraph of Article 18 of the National Security Act, the criminal cases involving the trade secrets regarding national core technologies shall undergo trial from the second  instance of the IPC Court.  (Article 59 amended) 

(4)  Relevant procedural requirements are revised or added to facilitate electronic process, enhance trial efficiency, avoid different judgments between institutions, and resolve practical disputes.  (Article 5, Article 5, Article 9, Article 18, Article 35, Article 36, Article 54, Article 58, Article 62, Article 63, and Article 71 amended)  (Released 2022.09.29)  

/CCS