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The Intellectual Property Court (IP Court) was established on 1 July 2008 to improve the quality of intellectual property case trials, enhance efficiency of the trial process and ensure consistency of judicial opinions. On the same day, the Intellectual Property Case Adjudication Act took effect, marking an important transition in the intellectual property litigation system in Taiwan.
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A significant difference between the IP Court and traditional courts is that the IP Court is open and responsive to public criticism and suggestion. The IP Court does not hesitate to make its internal guidelines public even when they are undergoing drafting and discussion. Shortly after its establishment, the IP Court published the "Model of IP Case Trial Procedure (Model) promulgated by the Judicial Yuan, which explains the standard trial procedure under the Judicial Yuan's proposal. The Model not only serves as reference for IP judges, but also provides parties with an overview of the litigation procedure.
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On 12 March 2010, the IP Court held a seminar on trial model, inviting lawyers, patent attorneys and patent agents to exchange opinions. Based on the discussions at the seminar, the IP Court modified the Model and posted a revised version on its website on 23 March 2010.
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According to the current Model, the first instance of patent infringement lawsuit involves two stages: procedural examination and trial, which are handled respectively by the examination tribunal and the trial tribunal. The two procedures are summarized as follows:
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Procedural Examination Process:
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When a case is filed, the examination tribunal will check for compliance with all procedural requirements and ask the plaintiff to submit supplements or corrections, if necessary. The examination tribunal will then issue a notice to the defendant requesting it to submit a defense brief within a specified period (namely, the "first-stage brief exchange procedure.") The tribunal will subsequently issues notices to the plaintiff and defendant requesting them to submit a summary brief for organizing the issues and relevant arguments presented so far (namely, the "second-stage brief exchange procedure"). The Procedural Examination Process is concluded upon completion of the above brief exchange procedures, which generally takes two to four months.
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Trial Process:
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The case is transferred to the trial tribunal. The judge in charge will hold several hearings to investigate the relevant issues and hear debate. Normally, the first hearing is a "preparation process," which aims at organizing the issues and scheduling a timetable for the subsequent trial. Depending on the case, the judge thereafter conducts one to two, or even more, debate hearings to investigate the issues of patent validity, infringement and damages. In general, the trial process takes approximately three to six months.
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In accordance with the Model, the IP Court normally concludes the first instance of a patent infringement lawsuit relatively quickly. In the best case scenario, litigation is concluded within six months, while even complicated cases may take less than a year. This is a significant improvement in efficiency over traditional courts, which commonly spent two or three years to complete the trial of a single instance for a patent infringement case. However, such an abbreviated procedure has triggered some concerns.
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To further improve trial quality and gain full trust in its judgments, the IP Court held another seminar with lawyers, patent attorneys and patent agents on 5 November 2010. In addition to eliciting comments and suggestions, the IP Court reported a draft revision of the Model. The most important change in the proposed revision involves additional preliminary proceedings, in which the IP Court would hold a debate hearing specifically for claim construction before investigating patent validity, infringement and damages. After this hearing, the IP Court would disclose its written opinion or decision with respect to claim construction. Furthermore, before investigating the damage issue, the Court would render an "intermediate judgment" on patent validity and infringement, thereby enabling the parties to evaluate the chance of success and the possibility of settlement before proceeding to investigate damages.
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This draft revision is currently still under consideration. The IP Court has stated it will seek further public feedback and conduct internal discussions on necessary adjustments before announcing a final version. How the Model evolves and eventually affects trial efficiency and quality remains to be seen.
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