5.2
Implications
5.2.1 For Government and policy
makers
Business losses due to international piracy of intellectual
property (IP) in Taiwan were valued at $ 2.23 billion CDN per year. The
magnitude of the problem is difficult to measure, but many trademark owners say
that Taiwan is the capital of global piracy of P after China. To meet the
requirements of the WTO in recent years has taiwain taken many steps to improve
its regulatory framework, revised and introduced many laws and regulations
related to IP. . The companies hardest hit are those that produce branded
apparel, software, entertainment products (especially the DVD and pop),
cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hygiene products, specialty chemicals and
components of information technology. The good news is that Taiwanese companies
depend more and more IP (particularly trademarks) and begin to demand better
protection under it.
The problem of IP is often embedded with other illegal
activities, such as overproduction by licensed factories, fraud distribution
and sales of gray markets. In scenarios surplus, manufacturers licensed to
produce the owner of the mark, reached the quota, and they then produce more of
the same goods for them. By the back door, they ship the surplus to lower
prices on the market, thus disrupting the market that the owner of the mark had
seen, and they received payment of profits illegally. The fraud involves
distribution of local managers of multinational companies setting up their own
companies to defraud the foreign entity. The gray market problems include
licensed factories that ship goods in areas designated as the preserve of
another licensed manufacturer. These problems may be complicated by the
involvement of corrupt local officials.
5.2.2 For SMEs
IP owners should adopt a comprehensive approach to protect
their IP in China. There are three main aspects to the strategy (the first
being by far the most important):
Prevention and Protection - attenuate the
risk in advance, making sure that your IP is properly registered, clearly
protected by contract and as difficult to hack as possible (for ex. Does not
share more software source code that is absolutely essential) Recognize that
the business strategies depend on the long-term protection of IP in Taiwan can
be risky and require additional efforts.
Recovery and retaliation - save the brand or
product, whether she / he is a victim of
IP pirates. This includes
investigations, raids, seizures and destruction, as well as civil litigation
and criminal prosecution. These measures can be costly and time-consuming.
Lobbying - this includes all the actions a
company can deploy to address the official and public opinion in favor of the
owners of IP and cons criminals, and influencing the evolution of the system of
legal protection of IP in Taiwan.
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