本　期　提　要　HEADLINES

1.USTR公布本年度各國貿易障礙報告

美國貿易代表署於本(二○○二)年四月二日公布本年度各國貿易障礙報告(National Trade Estimate)，本報告係美國以國別方式，分別列出其五十五個貿易夥伴對美國商品、服務及農產品出口所採取之不公平貿易措施及障礙，同時也列舉出各貿易夥伴在減少或排除貿易障礙方面之事例。緣美國貿易代表署(USTR)依據一九八四年貿易及關稅法（Trade and Tariff Act）第一八一條，每年定期向國會提交並對外發布外國貿易障礙(NTE)報告，主要目的為評估外國貿易障礙對美商貿易之影響。本年度為第十七次的報告，內容循例對主要貿易伙伴之貿易障礙進行清點（inventory）。 

本年度ＮＴＥ報告中美方並就下列九項我國主要貿易障礙之議題進行分析，分別為：一、進口政策(含關稅、發照及其他限制)；二、標準、檢驗、標示和認證；三、政府採購；四、出口補貼；五、智慧財產權保護；六、服務業障礙 (金融服務、法律服務、影片、電信服務) ；七、投資障礙；八、反競爭措施(含貪污)；九、電子商務。報告內容多屬正面評估，惟在標準檢驗及智慧財產權、及反競爭措施等領域仍然表示關切。 

依美方NTE報告作業程序，NTE報告公布後一個月左右，美國貿易代表署（USTR）將再公布「特別三○一」(針對智慧財產權保護不足國家)、「超級三○一」(針對不公平貿易措施國家)及政府採購障礙等年度檢討報告。 

有關「特別三○一」報告部分，近年來美方對我國智慧財產權保護問題持續表示關切，特別是我「光碟管理條例」實施後之執法成效及著作權法部分條文修訂草案之內容，本年度美國主要權利人團體，如國際智慧財產權聯盟(IIPA)及國際反仿冒聯盟（IACC）等，均建議將我國列入「優先觀察名單」。 

為因應美方關切事項，經濟部業研擬多次說帖，持續透過各種管道向美方懇切說明，以表達台灣保護智慧財產權的決心與誠意，並陸續將台灣近期推動保護智慧財產權的成效，向美方詳加解說，促請美方將台灣在本年特別三○一報告中除名或降至「一般觀察名單」。說帖主要論點包含：(1)上年我國保護智慧財產權工作，在法制面與執行面已有長足進展。(2)依美海關二○○一會計年度查扣進口貨品涉嫌侵害智慧財產權之案件統計，前五大來源地分別為中國大陸、香港、韓國、新加坡及台灣。我國從二○○○年度之第二大來源地降至第五位，顯見我打擊仿冒工作已見成效。(3)另為加強打擊盜版與仿冒產品的查緝工作，我行政院已於本年一月十六日公開宣示，本年為我國「推動保護智慧財產權行動年」，行政院及各相關部會將採取一系列行動，積極執行「光碟管理條例」及其相關子法。臺灣高等法院檢察署為此已研定「保護智慧財產權行動年查緝專案計畫」，成立每週專案會報，統籌指揮檢、警、調單位，全國同步執行查緝工作。 

經濟部國際貿易局並已將本年度ＮＴＥ報告有關我國部分之內容翻譯成中文，並於第一時間分送我政府相關單位研辦，並促請儘速研擬回應資料，再向美方說明澄清。 

前述ＮＴＥ報告中美方就我國主要貿易障礙之九項議題分析之中譯內容，請參閱如下網址http://www.trade.gov.tw /whatnew/2002net.htm。茲將其中有關智慧財產權保護議題之分析刊載如下： 

由於台灣在保護智慧財產權的法律架構及執法上尚有不足，以致保護智慧財產權成為台美間問題之一。根據美國國際智慧財產權聯盟（International Intellectual Property Alliance，IIPA，）的估計，二○○一年因台灣智慧財產權保護不足，造成美國的貿易損失達3.33億美元。台灣加入WTO已修改其智慧財產權保護的相關法規以符合WTO與貿易有關之智慧財產權協定(TRIPS)之規範，惟美國仍關切光學媒體盜版、無法有效關閉仿冒及侵害智慧財產之工廠。此外，出口盜版及仿冒貨品仍為美國主要之關切事項。 

為加入WTO，台灣立法院於二○○一年十月通過專利法修正案，該法延長專利權保護年限以符合TRIPS相關規範，惟可惜該法同時取消侵害新發明專利之刑事處分。

台灣於二○○一年十月修正並通過著作權法相關規定，賦予「電腦程式」享有與「文學著作」相同之保護年限，即著作人生存期間及其死亡後五十年。另因應世界智慧財產權組織(the World Intellectual Property Organization; WIPO)著作權條約，智慧財產局已向行政院提出著作權法修正草案。該修正案將提交立法院審議，修正部分包括公開傳播（public transmission）定義及網際網路相關規定例如科技保護措施及資訊管理之電子著作權（electronic copyright）等。美國政府及業者已對該修正案最新版本可能不足以充分保護智慧財產權表達關切。 

由於美方不滿台灣關於光學媒體之立法進度無法關閉盜版廠商及遏止日益增加之網路盜版，爰將台灣原列於二○○○年觀察名單，嗣於二○○一年四月改列特別三○一優先觀察名單。為回應美國政府及業者有關保護光學媒體產品及遏止非法製造該等產品之要求，台灣於二○○一年十月通過光碟管理條例，光碟製造者須申請生產許可，任何變更亦須向主管機關報備，另違法者可處以三年以下有期徒刑及最高八萬六千美元之罰鍰，惟台灣光碟盜版情況仍為美方主要關切議題。美方期盼台灣於二○○二年五月全面實施光碟法後，將會降低台灣偏高之侵害智慧財產權案件數量。 

美國亦關切台灣政府機關及大企業使用未獲授權軟體問題。美國正與台灣政府及企業共同改善此一情形，台灣要求其政府機關應使用獲合法授權之軟體，惟是否確實執行仍為美方關切之議題。 

台灣司法機構在處理技術性案件仍遭遇困難，導致美國產業抱怨台灣處理司法案件之冗長，各機關常因權責不清及相互衝突，造成智慧財產權執法上之困難。只有檢察官可以起訴並求刑違法者之情況限制積極之執法。美國智慧財產所有權人認為台灣司法程序本身即已構成障礙，且對違法者處分不夠。 

美國另一個關切的領域為台灣對產品包裝、造型及外觀即所謂的「商品形象」（trade dress）缺乏足夠保護。台灣公平交易法雖有保護未註冊標章（marks）及其他包裝形態之規定，但台灣當地廠商模仿美國產品造型，問題依舊存在。美國地毯製造商也提出對台灣公司抄襲其設計樣式之關切。

USTR Issues 2002 National Trade Estimate

On April 2, 2002 the USTR issued the 2002 National Trade Estimate (NTE).  In this report, the U.S. sets out any unfair trade measures and barriers adopted by the U.S. 55 trading partners, in respect of U.S. products, services, and primary products exported by the U.S.  It also sets out actions taken by its trading partners in reducing or eliminating such trade barriers.  Under Article 181 of the U.S. 1984 Trade and Tariff Act, the USTR is required to submit and publish an NTE every year, for the main purpose of evaluating the impact of foreign trade barriers on U.S. trade.  The 2002 report represents its 17th report, and continues to set out an inventory of trade barriers adopted by its main trading partners. 

In the 2002 NTE, the U.S. had analyzed Taiwan's 9 main trade barriers as follows: (1) import policies (including duties, licenses, and other restrictions); (2) standards, inspections, labeling, and approvals; (3) government procurement; (4) export subsidies; (5) intellectual property protection; (6) barriers to service industries (financial, legal, film and telecommunication services); (7) barriers to investment; (8) anti-competitive measures (including corruption); (9) electronic commerce.  For the most part, the NTE evaluation in respect of Taiwan was positive.  However, it still expressed concern in respect of standards, inspections, intellectual property, and anti-competitive measures areas. 

In accordance with the U.S. NTE procedures, the USTR would issue a further "Special 301 Report" (in respect of countries with insufficient IPR protection), a "Super 301 Report" (in respect of countries with unfair trade measures), and an annual report on government procurement barriers. 

In relation to the Special 301 Report, in recent years the U.S. had continued to express concern regarding IPR protection in Taiwan.  It is particularly interested in results of enforcing the Optical Media Management Law and contents of draft partial amendments to the Copyright Law.  For this year, the major U.S. interest groups - such as the IIPA and the IACC - have all suggested that Taiwan be listed on the "priority watch list". 

In response to these concerns, the MOEA has continued to dialogue with the U.S. through various channels, in order to express Taiwan's determination and sincerity in protecting IPR.  The MOEA has also provided the U.S. with detailed explanations concerning the results of Taiwan's recent efforts in promoting protection of IPR, urging the U.S. to remove Taiwan from its Special 301 Report or de-prioritize to the "ordinary watch list".  The main points expressed to the U.S. include: (1) Taiwan's IPR protection work, in terms of legislative and enforcement measures, had both improved substantially last year; (2) according to U.S. Customs statistics concerning seizure of infringing products imported during the last fiscal year, the 5 main sources of infringing products were Mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.  Since 2000 Taiwan's record had fallen from the 2nd position to the 5th, showing the Taiwan's anti-counterfeiting efforts had substantive results; (3) in order to increase investigative efforts in combating infringement, Taiwan's Executive Yuan had on January 16, 2002 declared the year 2002 to be the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year", and the Executive Yuan as well as other relevant departments will take series of actions to thoroughly enforce the Optical Media Management Law and related regulations.  The Prosecutors' Office of Taiwan's Supreme Court had also prepared the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year Investigation Taskforce", which will coordinate investigative efforts by Taiwan's prosecutors, police and investigators. 

The Bureau of Foreign Trade (MOEA) has also translated into Chinese the part of the NTE that relates to Taiwan, and submitted the same to relevant departments of the Government for their response. Departments were also urged to prepare their responses as soon as possible, so as to provide clarifications to the U.S. 

For Chinese translation of the 9 trade barriers listed in the aforementioned NTE report (in relation to Taiwan), readers can visit the following website: http://www.trade.gov.tw/ whatnew/2002net.htm. Below is the analysis of topics relating to IPR: 

Due to persisting insufficiencies in Taiwan's legal structure and enforcement relating to IPR protection, IPR issues have become a problem between Taiwan and the U.S. According to estimates of the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), Taiwan's inadequate IPR protection resulted in a trade loss of US$333 million to the U.S. during 2001.  After joining the WTO, Taiwan has revised its relevant IPR laws, so as to comply with WTO requirements and provisions of TRIPS.  However, the U.S. is still concerned about piracy of optical media, and failure to effectively close down factories that infringe IPR.  In addition, exportation of counterfeit products is still a main issue of concern for the U.S. 

For the purposes of accession to the WTO, the Taiwan Legislative Yuan had in October 2001 passed amendments to the Patent Law, which will extend the period of protection granted to patents, so as to be consistent with requirements of TRIPS.  However, the said law at the same time removed criminal sanctions for infringement of invention patents. 

In October 2001 Taiwan passed amendments relating to the Copyright Law, granting computer programs the same period of protection as literary works, that is the life of the author and 50 years after his/her death.  In response to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s Copyright Treaty, the IPO has also submitted relevant draft amendments to the Copyright Law to the Executive Yuan.  These amendments will ultimately be submitted to the Legislative Yuan, and topics dealt with include definition of "public transmission", and provisions relating to the Internet (such as technological protective measures and electronic copyright of information management systems).  U.S. government and businesses have already expressed concern about possible failure by the proposed amendments to adequately protect IPR. 

As the U.S. had been dissatisfied with Taiwan's legislative progress in relation to optical media, such as failure to shut down counterfeiting factories and to halt internet piracy, it had listed Taiwan on its 2000 watch list, and then shifted to the priority watch list of the Special 301 Report in April 2001.  In response to the U.S. government and businesses' concerns, Taiwan had passed the Optical Media Management Law in October 2001, under which optical media manufacturers must apply for manufacturing permits, and declare any changes.  Violations of the said Law are punishable by up to 3 years of imprisonment, and up to US$86,000 in fines.  However, optical media piracy remains one of the U.S.' main concerns.  The U.S. hopes that after the Optical Media laws come into effect in May 2002, the number of infringement cases in Taiwan will be greatly reduced. 

The U.S. is also concerned about the failure by Taiwanese government departments and major businesses to use licensed software. The Taiwanese government and businesses are currently working together with the U.S. to improve this situation. Taiwan has required that its government departments use licensed software, but the U.S. is concerned whether departments have in fact done so. 

Taiwan's judicial institutions have continued to run into difficulties in handling technical cases, resulting in complaints from U.S. businesses about the lengthiness of Taiwan's handling of litigious cases.  There are also many problems relating to enforcement of IPR laws, due to unclear definition of departmental powers and duties, which are sometimes conflicting.  Active enforcement is restricted by the fact that only a prosecutor is able to commence a prosecution, and request sentencing of defendants.  The IIPA believes that the Taiwanese judicial system itself is a barrier to effective enforcement of IPR laws, and sanctions imposed against offenders are insufficient. 

One of U.S.' other areas of concern is Taiwan's lack of protection for product packaging, form and appearance, that is the so-called "trade dress".  Although Taiwan's Fair Trade Law contains provision relating to protection of unregistered marks and other forms of packaging, the problem persists when Taiwan's manufacturers imitate the appearance of U.S. products.  U.S. carpet manufacturers have also expressed concern relating to imitation of its designs by Taiwanese companies.

2.政府全力推動保護智財權行動年各項工作

行政院為有效保護智慧財產權，特別將今（九十一）年定為「保護智慧財產權行動年」，要求相關部會分別從強力查緝、加強宣導、研討訓練等方面密切合作，確實執行各項保護智慧財產權工作，並由國家資訊通信發展委員會負責追蹤管制。 

緣將經濟部智慧財產局日前彙報之「推動保護智慧財產權行動年計畫」執行情形，分項敘述如下： 

壹、背景說明

一、九十年十二月二十六日行政院核定九十一年為「推動保護智慧財產權行動年」。

二、九十一年一月十六日行政院通過「推動保護智慧財產權行動年計畫」。

三、九十一年一月十六日行政院院會後記者會，發佈張前院長致全國工商企業主、各級學校同學與全體民眾「公開信」。

四、九十一年一月二十四日行政院核定法務部陳報之「推動保護智慧財產權行動年查緝專案計畫」。

五、九十一年一月二十八日法務部高檢署成立「推動保護智慧財產權行動年專案會報」。 

貳、目前執行情形

一、查緝仿冒

(一)法務部高檢署於九十一年一月二十八日召開第一次推動保護智慧財產權行動年專案會報，並自九十一年一月三十日展開強力查緝，截至同年三月二十日止，各查緝機關，共查獲侵害智慧財產權六一七件，移送人犯七三四人，查扣仿冒品估計約值新台幣十八億一百二十二萬四千五百三十七元。

(二)「經濟部光碟聯合查核小組」自九十一年一月十五日起至三月二十六日止，共進行二十九家光碟工廠宣導及查核工作。
二、加強宣導

(一)為推動保護智慧財產權行動年計畫及智慧局成立三週年系列活動

1.舉辦保護智慧財產權行動年座談會

2.工商企業發表自律公約暨仿冒品銷燬

3.刊登燈箱廣告

4.透過電視牆播放宣導短片

(二)透過大眾傳播媒體呼籲尊重保護智慧財產權

1.於各大戲院播放宣導短片

2.於廣播電台收聽率高的節目製播訪談單元及宣導廣告

3.透過網站刊登保護智慧財產權系列新聞稿

(三)舉辦智慧財產權法令宣導系列活動

1.新修正專利法暨加入WTO相關專利法條文說明會

2.我國加入WTO後關於智慧財產權擴大保護之說明與因應

3.智慧局審查人員與兼任專利審查委員座談會

4.專利侵害鑑定研習會

Actions Taken for IPR Protection Action Year

In order to effectively protect intellectual property rights, the Executive Yuan had designated this year as the "Action Year of Intellectual Property Right Protection", and required various relevant departments to cooperate on matters of law enforcement, education, and research and training.  The Steering Committee of National Information Infrastructure (NII) Development has been given the responsibility of supervising the program. 

Below is a summary of progress of the Action Year program, as released by the MOEA: 

A.Background

1.On December 26, 2001 the Executive Yuan approved designation of the year 2002 as the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year".

2.On January 16, 2002 the Executive Yuan passed the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year Program".

3.On January 16, 2002 the Executive Yuan issued a press release, announcing the "public address" by former Premier Chang to industries and businesses, schools, students, and the general public.

4.On January 24, 2002 the Executive Yuan approved the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year Prosecution Program" submitted by the Ministry of Justice.

5.On January 28, 2002 the Prosecutors' Office of the Ministry of Justice formed the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year Taskforce". 

B.Progress of Enforcement:

1.Anti-Counterfeiting:

(1)On January 28, 2002 the Prosecutors' Office of the Ministry of Justice called the first meeting of the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year Taskforce", and commenced concentrated investigations from January 30, 2002.  As at March 20, the various departments had investigated 617 cases of IPR infringement, indicted 734 defendants, and seized infringing products with total value of approximately NT$1,801,224,537.

(2)Between January 15 and March 26, 2002, the "MOEA Optical Media Joint Investigation Team" had conducted inspections and IPR education in respect of 29 optical media factories.

2.Education:

(1)In order to promote the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year Program" and celebrate the IPO's 3rd year anniversary, the following series of activities have been held:

(i)hold the "Intellectual Property Right Protection Action Year Seminars"

(ii)make the "Industries & Businesses Self-Discipline Declaration" and hold the public destruction of counterfeit products

(iii)publish light-case advertisements

(iv)publish promotional short films through TV walls

(2)Promote respect for IPR through public media:

(i)publish promotional short films in cinema

(ii)produce interviews and advertising related to IPR on radio stations with high ratings

(iii)issue press releases on website relating to IPR information series

(3)Hold series of activities relating to IPR law awareness:

(i)seminar on new Patent Law and Patent Law provisions after joining the WTO

(ii)seminar on response to expanded IPR protection after Taiwan's accession to WTO

(iii)seminar on IPO examiners

(iv)seminar on determination of patent infringement