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| 八卷七期 89年04月16日 |
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Taiwan and UK sign IPR reciprocity agreement |
| Taiwan and the United Kingdom on 20 March 2000 signed an agreement which will facility the establishment of the two countries reciprocity for patent priority and for patent extension. The agreement was signed in Taipei by Tzen Wen-hua, representative of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, and David Coates, director general of the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei. Intellectual Property Office Director General Chen Ming-bang presided over the signing ceremony. The agreement, which is expected to increase trade between the two countries, calls upon the two countries to provide the following reciprocal benefits: Allow natural and legal persons of Taiwan and the UK to enjoy the right of priority from 20 March 2000 upon filing patent applications with authorities of the other country; provided that the right of priority shall not apply prior to 20 March 2000. The relevant authorities of each side will receive applications for patents and accordingly grant patents for inventions relating to new micro-organisms when filed by any natural or legal person of Taiwan or the United Kingdom, as the case may be. Agree that the deposit of microorganisms shall be carried out according to the laws of the country where the deposit is made. Article 26 of the ROC Patent Law provides that microorganism invention patent applicants must deposit the microorganism in any "domestic" deposit institute designated by the IPO. The IPO has designated the Institute for Food Research as the domestic deposit institute. Agree that the extension of terms of patent shall be determined in accordance to the laws of each country. |
