LATEST LEGAL NEWS

EXECUTIVE YUAN APPROVED "ACT FOR INDUSTRIES INNOVATION" TO FACILITATE INNOVATION OF VARIOUS INDUSTRIES

TAIWAN CONTINUED TO PROMOTE NANOTECHNOLOGY BY APPROVING THE 2ND PHASE OF NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM (NNP)

Nanotechnology, so called "fourth industrial revolution", has been regard as one of the promising and leading industry in the 21st century, the Council for Economic Planning and Development point out that countries around the globe has made significant R&D investments in nanotechnology, including US, EU and Japan, more than 60 nations were funded by the government in conducting nanotechnology R&D activities....[more]

TAIWAN GOVERNMENT HAS LAUNCHED THE BIOTECHNOLOGY ACTION PLAN

The Taiwan Government has planned to boost the support and develop local industries across the following six major sectors: biotechnology, tourism, health care, green energy, innovative culture and post-modern agriculture. As the biotechnology industry has reached its maturity by the promulgation of "Biotech and New Pharmaceutical Development Act" in July, 2007, it will be the first to take the lead among the above sectors. Thus, the Executive Yuan has launched the Biotechnology Action Plan as the first project in building the leading industry sectors, to upgrade local industries and stimulate future economic growth.....[more]

SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT BECOMES ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT POLICIES IN TAIWAN NATIONAL ECONOMIC PLAN

Executive Yuan approved "New Century the Third National Economic Plan" proposed by Council for Economic Planning and Development. It is the vision, mission and goal of national economy for coming four years. "New Century the Third National Economic Plan" describes mid-term vision of national economic development. Taiwan government set forth six main policies for National Economic development, including sustainable environment....[more]

TAIWAN ADOPTED THE "ISP’S THREE-STRIKE RULE" IN THE COPYRIGHT ACT AMENDMENT

The new amendment to the Copyright Act governing the limitations of infringement liability of Internet Service Providers, hereinafter called ISPs, was passed by the Legislative Yuan, the Parliament of Taiwan, and promulgated by the President of Taiwan on May 13th, 2009. The main modifications of this amendment are adding the definitions of ISPs and ascertaining the circumstances of justification for exempting ISPs from infringement liabilities, so called "safe harbors.",Four types of ISPs are regulated in this amendment, including the connection service providers, the caching service providers, the information storage service providers, and the searching service providers (Article 3, subparagraph 19).....[more]

NCC’S BROADCASTING CONTENTS DEPARTMENT PROPOSES ITS ANNUAL WORKING PLAN 2009

NCC’s Broadcasting Contents Department published its Annual Plan 2009 in March 2009. The plan sets out NCC’s proposed working program for 2009.....[more]

GMO-FREE MOVEMENT AND REGIONAL REGULATIONS ON GMO: AN ANALYSIS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HARMONIZED REGULATION AND LOCAL AUTONOMY

In Europe and Japan, there are several regional and local governments establishing strict regulations on GMOs, or even announcing themselves as GMO-free zones. It can be said that all these actions are motivated or driven by the anti-GMO civil movements. This article attempts to look into the phenomena of regional GMO regulations from the perspective of harmonized regulation and local autonomy.....[more]

ANALYSIS OF THE U.S. EGYPTIAN GODDESS CASE

On September 22, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued an en banc decision in Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa. The CAFC held that the independent "point of novelty" test of the two-prong test in Litton Systems Inc. v. Whirpool Corp should no longer be used in the analysis of design patent infringement, and a single ordinary observer test including prior art analysis should apply....[more]

ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CIVIL LIABILITY RESPONSIBLE FOR GENETIC CONTAMINATION AND THUS INCURRED DAMAGE COMPENSATION MECHANISM

It has been over 10 years foregone since the first research result of GMO successfully commercialized. "Genetic pollution" or "genetic contamination" is no longer a hypothetical scenario, around the world, cases related to unlawful gene flow or accused of "genetic pollution" or "genetic contamination" could be heard, reported or even sued. With the constant spread of the planting fields of GM Crops, probability of the occurrence of gene flow or genetic contamination has increased....[more]

RECENT GMO REGULATION EVOLUTION IN THE US FOR REGULATING ENVIRONMENTAL RELEASE OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ORGANISMS

Facing the highly controversial biosafety issues about the environment release of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), national governments are used to evaluating and reviewing whether a GMO is safe enough to conduct field trials, environmental release and commercial activities by a binary approach or an on-off approach. Under such regulation approach, an applicant must complete and pass the field trial review, and then they can move towards the next stage to apply for a permit of environmental release or commercial activities....[more]

LEGAL STUDY ON REGULATIONS RELATED TO CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY MANAGEMENT AT JAPAN AND KOREA － WITH THE RESPECT OF TAIWAN ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE LAW AND ITS FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

The civilization of human society closely correlates with the record and the transferring mode of information. Along with the development of internet and digital technology, traditional handwritten signature and seal are replacing by electronic signature, which make the ensuring of the truth of electronic document and other electronic messages to be possible....[more]

DISCUSSION ON THE LEGAL ISSUES IN WEB2.0 PHENOMENON OF "REAL NAME SYSTEM" AND "DISCLOSURE OF THE IDENTITY OF ANONYMOUS USERS"

The web 2.0 phenomenon created a new rush towards social networking and changed people’s internet participation behavior from subscribing to creating the contents. People can now express their opinions freely and share interesting things with others through various kinds of online services provided by the ISPs (internet service providers). Such activities make the web2.0 application becoming more prevalent. However, despite the positive side of web 2.0, the anonymity in the cyber space allows people using the internet without revealing their true identities....[more]