Amended Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act enforced to reinforce trade secrets protection

　On August 30, 2023, the Judicial Yuan of Taiwan issued a press release to the effect that the amendment to the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act of Taiwan, which is the drastic overhaul of the Act for the past fifteen years, has officially come into force.  The Director-General of the Department of Administrative Litigation and Discipline expressed that this amendment will enhance Taiwan’s intellectual property litigation system with greater profession and efficiency to keep it in line with the international trends, and it will further provide more complete protection to trade secrets, boost industrial competitiveness, and thereby ensure the sustained and stable development of the whole semiconductor industry.  

1.  9 Key points of the amendment to the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act: 

This amendment marks a milestone of the intellectual property litigation system and contains nine major changes, which include augmented trade secrets protection in litigation, mandatory legal representation by lawyers, expansion of experts’ intervention, concentrated trial of IP-related cases, one-time resolution (avoidance of inconsistent judgments), enhancement of trial efficiency, promotion of use of technological equipment (electronic judicial services), introduction of a system allowing victim’s participation in trial proceedings, and resolution of disputes in practice.  

2.  Trial by specialized divisions, on-the-job training, and enhancement of professional trial 

In order to put into effect the specialization of trial, in addition to the establishment of specialized divisions in the courts of all levels for specifically handling IP-related cases and the division of civil and criminal cases at the intellectual property court of the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, the Judicial Yuan will be constantly holding courses in regard to intellectual property litigation and trade secrets litigation involving national security with an aim to reinforce judges’ professional knowledge.  

3.  Enactment of 13 relevant acts or guidelines in support of establishment of a complete and comprehensive regime for trial of IP cases 

The Judicial Yuan has accomplished the enactment or amendments of a total of 13 sub-laws, relevant statutory orders, and administrative rules, including the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Rules, Regulations Governing Dossier Review and Non-Public Trial for Court’s Handling of Trade Secrets Cases (tentative English translation), and Directions for Court’s Handling of Trade Secrets Cases (tentative English translation) to be followed by courts.  Moreover, the Judicial Yuan structures on its official website a special section that provides update information of the amended Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act for people’s understanding of amended contents.  (Released 2023.08.30)  
/CCS