Newsletter
IP RIGHTS MAY BE USED TO SECURE LITIGATION COSTS
Article 96 Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) provide that if a plaintiff has no residence, office, or place of business in Taiwan, the court must, if so petitioned by the defendant, order the plaintiff to provide a bond to cover the litigation costs. The above provisions do not apply to portions of the plaintiff's claims that are not contested by the defendant, or if the plaintiff has sufficient assets in Taiwan to defray the costs of litigation. In a 2004 ruling, the Su-preme Court upheld a high court ruling that "assets" as referred to in Article 96 Paragraph 2 of the CCP are not limited to tangible assets; and that a invention patent valid until 2014, which generated licensing fees of several million New Taiwan dollars per year was an asset as referred to in Article 96 Paragraph 2.
Additionally, in a 2004 ruling the Taiwan High Court held that a trademark right had an assess-able value, and was an asset that may be used to defray litigation costs under Article 96 Paragraph 2 of the CCP. In a 2005 ruling, the Taipei Dis-trict Court, citing the above 2004 ruling of the Supreme Court, also held that copyright could be used to secure litigation costs under Article 96 Paragraph 2 of the CCP.
From the above rulings, it appears that other in-tellectual property rights, such as trade secrets or rights in integrated circuit layouts, may also be acceptable assets to secure litigation costs under Article 96 Paragraph 2 of the CCP; provided that they have an estimable value.