Taiwan's Patent Linkage System on Back Burner After US Withdrawal from TPP

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed the new draft of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act at the end of 2017. The new draft included a patent linkage system, which was designed with the hope of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership in mind. However, after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement, the implementation of the new system has been halted temporarily.

Jilin sees Patent Monetization Deal Worth US$13.8m

At a recent technology trade fair held recently in the Changchun, the capital of China’s Jilin province, agreements on the monetization of 10 patents were signed, involving a total value of more than 87 million yuan ($13.8 million). Jilin province oversaw the monetization of 1,220 patents in 2017.

Beijing Aims to Cut Patent Review Wait Time in Half with Two New Centers

Beijing will establish two intellectual property protection centers this year that are expected to shorten the patent review cycle for certain sectors from one year to six months, according to the Information Office of the Beijing municipal government. The two centers will be dedicated for the most part to information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials and biomedicine, according to Pan Xinsheng, deputy director of the Beijing Intellectual Property Office, as cited on the SIPO website.

Taiwan Minister of Education Accused of Violating Civil Service Rules with Company for Patent Application

Taiwan's Minister of Education Maw-Kuen Wu has been accused of violating civil service regulation for his role as the responsible person in a US firm while he was president of National Dong Hwa University. He reportedly set up the firm to enable the university to apply for a patent for an application of an orchid extract, spiranthes sinensis in China.

China does not recognize patent applications from universities in Taiwan that include the word “National” in their title, as it does not recognize the island’s status as a country.

Taiwan Patent Application Trends Q1

In the first quarter of 2018, applications for invention patents, utility model patents and design patents submitted to the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) totaled 17,674, year-on-year growth of 0.03%. Invention patent applications have shown their fifth consecutive quarter of growth. Trademark registration applications totaled 20,210 in the first quarter, growth of 7% year-on-year, the sixth consecutive quarter of growth.

Invention patent applications in the first quarter totaled 11,420, growth of 2%; design patents totaled 1,938 also showing growth of 5%; utility model applications fell 7%.

Invention patent applications submitted by locals has shown six quarters of continuous growth, however foreign applications have fallen. Among invention patent applications, 4,081 were filed by local applicants, growth of 9%. Only 7,339 applications were filed by foreign applicants, a decrease of 1%. Japanese applicants were the highest in terms of nationality of applicant with 3,648 applications, followed by US applicants with 1,608 applications.

Design patent applications totaled 1,938, growth of 5%, 1,049 were from local applicants, while foreign applications totaled 889.

Guangdong Courts Adjudicated Over 70,000 IP Cases Last Year

The Guangdong People's High Court recently published a report on the state of intellectual property protection in the province in 2017 and the top 10 intellectual property cases from the province.

In 2017, Guangdong courts heard over 70,000 intellectual property cases, making up almost a third of all newly heard intellectual property cases nationally, a historic high. Among these, more technical cases on first instance made up almost 50%, and standard essential patents (SEPs), internet copyright and anti-competitive practices disputes have grown.

In 2017 the Guangdong Intellectual Property Court heard 9,214 new cases, year-on-year growth of 93.9%, and concluded 7,805 cases, year-on-year growth of 59.06%. The Shenzhen Intellectual Property Court has heard 3,243 intellectual property cases from when it opened on Dec. 11, 2017.

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