Amendments to the Taiwan Trademark Act in 2023
On May 9, 2023, the Taiwanese legislature approved an act that amended Taiwan’s Trademark Act; on May 24, 2023, Presidential Order No. 1120043251 made the new law official. The amendments include the following highlights, which go into effect on a date that the Executive Yuan will announce, including accelerated examination, trademark agent qualifications, and simplified customs infringement notification.
With the new faster trademark examination process, trademark application reviews might be completed in just two months. The applicant must establish, through facts and arguments, that the requested trademark registration is urgently required. The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (“TIPO”) will expedite the review process if successful and will decide within two months. Plans to attend a trade fair or a new product launch may need quick registration, according to the Director General of TIPO.
Businesses now have three alternatives when requesting trademark registration after the 2023 amendments: standard application, fast-track application, and accelerated examination. While both fast-track applications and regular applications may submit any form of the trademark application, fast-track applicants must utilize pre-approved standard descriptions. An applicant who submits a standard application, however, is permitted to use any description for the specified products and services. As of this writing, we are aware of no restrictions on the specifics of the listed goods and services. While fast-track applications only take five or six months, regular applications can take up to six to eight months.
The lack of qualifications for trademark agents was questioned by several practitioners before the most recent changes. It was claimed that this loose attitude led to subpar representation and damaging competitiveness in the trademark market. A qualified trademark agent must now be a lawyer or have completed the TIPO’s trademark agent examination to comply with the modifications. In addition, the statute grandfathers in people who have been doing trademark registration “for a certain period” and get yearly training. The grandfathered parties would have had to prove that the trademark agent had submitted at least ten trademark registration applications annually during the three years before the new amendment’s effective date, according to a draft of the changes.
Any claimed knockoff must be reported by Taiwan Customs to the trademark owner, the importer, and the exporter by subparagraph 1 of Article 75 of the Trademark Act. In reality, after receiving the notification, the trademark owner will locate the imitation using images given by Customs or by visual inspection while visiting Customs. The Trademark Act has been updated to explicitly state that counterfeit goods can be recognized using images, incorporating the latter practice.
*** Other Articles***
– You could visit here to see Procedure of Taiwan Trademark Registration.
– You could visit here to check the required documents for filing trademark in Taiwan.
– You could check trademark fee in Taiwan here.
– You could also read 04 Often Questions About Filing Trademark In Taiwan here.
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