Better Intellectual Property Protection Removes Taiwan from Special 301 Watch List

     Taiwan is committed to the protection of intellectual property, and this year the island was finally removed from the United States’ Special 301 Watch List. This recognizes the efforts Taiwan has made and the results it has achieved in the protection of intellectual property rights, comments Premier Liu Chao-shiuan, and encourages continued cooperation in the creation of an even better IPO system and environment that fully protects inventors and creators.
     The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs notes that the island’s judicial (Judicial Yuan), administrative (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, customs, and police), and legislative departments have cooperated to escape Special 301 listing by working vigorously on the policy, legal, and executive levels to improve the domestic environment for IPO protection. Progress on three key issues of concern to the U.S. contributed to Taiwan’s removal from the list: the establishment of an IP court, making Taiwan one of the few countries in the world with such an exclusive court; the promotion of IP protection on the campus, with the adoption of effective measures against illegal copying and downloading; and the revision of provisions of the Copyright Law in regard to the responsibility of internet service providers (ISPs) so as to bring about the establishment of a common platform for ISPs and rights owners that will further control infringement.
     U.S. concerns about Taiwan’s IP protection became an obstacle to bilateral trade. In 2001 Taiwan was even called “a haven for pirates,” and for years was on the Special Watch List or Priority Watch List. In the annual Special 301 report which the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued on April 25, 2008 Taiwan was left on the ordinary Watch List, but with a provision for an out-of-cycle review (OCR). After eight months of intensive review, the U.S. removed Taiwan from the Watch List entirely in response to the island’s ongoing efforts to protect intellectual property rights.

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