Taiwan retains the 20th position in 2018 International IP Index

　The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index on February 7, 2019.  According to the report, Taiwan ranked 20^th among the global economies assessed and came behind Japan, Singapore, South Korea among Asian countries.  The report praised Taiwan’s strengthened protection and law enforcement with respect to biopharmaceutical IP rights and Patent Act amendment.  

　As revealed in the report of the International IP Index, Taiwan earned a total score of 28.05, coming in at the 20^th position among the 50 economies surveyed around the world.  In Asia, Taiwan finished 4^th to trail behind Japan at 8^th, Singapore at 10^th, and South Korea at 13^th.  The U.S., Britain, and Sweden snatched the top three positions, while China ranked 25^th.  

　Although Taiwan’s ranking remained the same as in 2017, Taiwan earned more points in some subindexes, especially in patent-related laws enforcement and protection.  Taiwan outperformed other countries by earning a full score of 1 point in seven out of eight categories and also received full scores in the subindexes of patent protection duration, patentability requirements, and patent legislation.  

　Moreover, as indicated and commended by the report, Taiwan has fulfilled its commitment to reinforcing IP protection environment for biopharmaceuticals and life sciences by implementing the amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act mainly with respect to patent linkage system.  Other equally praiseworthy measures Taiwan has taken to improve its IP protection environment are the extended patent protection term from 12 year to 15 for design patents as proposed in the Patent Act amendments and also tax reduction granted and technical support and IP-related courses provided by Taiwan IPO to small and medium-sized enterprises.  (February 2019)  

/CCS