The Taiwan Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance, amended the Regulations Governing Customs Measures in Protecting Rights and Interests in Trademarks (“the Regulations”) on 30 December 2016. The amendment is aimed at providing more complete protection for the rights of trademark holders and strengthening border control measures by Taiwan Customs against trademark-infringing goods. It also is designed to harmonize with Taiwan’s policies of promoting e-government and streamlining administrative procedures. The amended Regulations entered into full force from 1 January 2017.

Below are some key points of the amendment:

1. The amended Regulations provide for protection on a per-registration rather than per-design basis

Among the protective measures under the Regulations are a mechanism for trademark rights holders to apply, by a notice to Customs, for protection of registered trademarks (“protection-upon-notice”), and a mechanism for rights holders to file complaints with Customs about specific goods suspected of infringing trademark. In the past, applications for protection-upon-notice of registered trademarks were required to be submitted on a per-design basis, with the result that multiple registrations of a single trademark design would be bundled into a single protection-upon-notice case. But as different registrations may have different protection periods and scopes of protection, a need to differentiate between registrations was recognized. The amended Regulations, in Article 3.1, therefore expressly require trademark rights holders seeking protection to apply on a per-registration rather than per-design basis and to separately record with Customs the information for each trademark registration number.

2. The protection-upon-notice period is lengthened, and renewal procedures are simplified

Before the amendment, Customs would grant approval for protection-upon-notice for a one-year term only, and trademark rights holders were required to apply for renewal annually. To simplify matters, Article 4.1 of the amended Regulations revises the protection-upon-notice period to “from the date of approval by Customs to the expiration of the trademark rights term”, eliminating the need for annual renewal applications. A trademark rights owner who applies for and obtains renewal of an expiring trademark now needs merely to present Customs with documentary proof of the renewed trademark term to update the information on record with Customs and renew the protection of the registration.

3. The amendment specifies the obligation of the trademark rights holder or agent to cooperate with Customs, and allows Customs to terminate the protection period if unable to contact the rights holder or if an offshore rights holder no longer has a Taiwan agent

To strengthen the obligation of trademark rights holders or their agents to cooperate in trademark protection, the amendment newly provides, in Article 5, that Customs may terminate the protection-upon-notice period early in either of the following circumstances: (1) Customs is unable to contact the trademark rights holder or the rights holder’s agent using the information submitted in the application for protection-upon-notice; (2) a trademark rights holder without a domicile or place of business or no longer has an agent in Taiwan because its relationship with its agent has been terminated or is extinguished by some other cause.

4.   When a trademark rights holder files a complaint against specific import or export goods suspected of infringement, Customs is now required to notify the trademark rights holder of the acceptance of the complaint or the reasons for non-acceptance of the complaint.

When a trademark rights holder takes the initiative to file a complaint against import or export goods suspected to infringe the holder’s trademark rights, under Article 6.2 of the amended Regulations, Customs is required to notify the trademark rights holder of whether the complaint is accepted, and when Customs declines to accept a complaint, it is further required to specify the reasons for non-acceptance.
5.   The amendment permits Customs, upon application, to provide photographs of suspected infringing items to trademark rights holders to help them assess whether products are genuine or counterfeit, to expedite handling procedures

To help trademark rights holders judge more quickly whether to proceed to Customs to assess suspected infringing goods, Article 7.5 of the amended Regulations permits Customs, upon application, to provide photographs of suspected infringing items to trademark rights holders. Rights holders may not, however, base their determination of whether there is infringement simply on photographs of import or export goods provided by Customs.

6. A trademark rights holder who lacks a domicile or a place of business in Taiwan is required to designate an agent to act on the rights holders’ behalf in exercising the trademark protections under the Regulations

In principle, a trademark rights holder may choose at its own discretion whether to designate an agent to act on its behalf to exercise the protections under the Regulations. The exception is a trademark rights holder who has neither a domicile nor a place of business in Taiwan. Under the amended Regulations, such a rights holder is required to appoint an agent to liaise with and carry out infringement assessments at Customs, and receive service of documents or notices from Customs.

7. The amendment newly provides that a recorded exclusive licensee has standing equivalent to a trademark rights holder

The amended Regulations provide, in Article 15, that a recorded exclusive licensee is entitled to enjoy, in the licensee’s own name, the border control measures implemented by Customs for trademark protection under the Regulations, and is further entitled to exclude applications by third parties for those protective measures. This amendment brings the Regulations into harmony with the provisions of the Trademark Act concerning exclusive licensees.

In addition to lengthening the period of protection in cases of protection-upon-notice, the amended Regulations offer greater convenience to trademark rights holders by allowing them to use electronic means to apply for protection-upon-notice and to query information related to their applications. Rights holders nevertheless should remain mindful, as the expiration of a trademark term approaches, to present Customs with documentary proof of trademark term renewal, in order to renew the term of the protection and ensure that their trademark rights remain safeguarded. Foreign holders of Taiwan trademark rights who do not have a domicile or place of business in Taiwan should also pay special attention to the new provisions regarding the compulsory use of an agent when such rights holders apply for protections under the Regulations.

For more information on trademark and IP protection and enforcement matters in Taiwan, please contact Gary Kuo at gkuo@winklerpartners.com.

This is a translation by Paul Cox, of the original Chinese article found here.