Newsletter
TRADE SECRETS PROTECTION ORDER
As parties to IPR litigation are typically competitors in related industries, and the documents or physical evidence that they submit to the court or disclose during proceedings may relate to their own or third parties' trade secrets, the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act effective as of 1 July 2008 introduces the mechanism of trade secrets protection order. Any person who intentionally violates a trade secrets protection order will be subject to up to three years' imprisonment.
The mechanism is modeled on similar practice under the Japanese legal system. While no trade secrets protection order has been issued in Japan so far, the major concern in Taiwan used to be that the order might be abused to threaten the intellectual property owner with possible criminal liabilities for violating the order.
Unexpectedly, there were only a few applications for the order during the past year, and the court has taken quite strict criteria in reviewing whether to issue the order. Thus, the fear of the mechanism's abuse seems unwarranted by far.