In response to the rapid growth of the global bio-economy, the Executive Yuan has put forth the Taiwan Bio-Economy Industries Development Plan in an effort to further promote the national biotechnology industry. After hearing the “Taiwan Biotechnology Industries Development Report” presented by the Board of Science and Technology on August 19, 2015, Premier Mao Chi-Kuo stated that biotechnology is set to become a major growth engine in years to come and the government will continue to play its supporting role by implementing industrial development policies to improve it’s overall economic value. At the Bio Taiwan Committee (BTC) meeting held on September 9, 2015, the Premier announced that the government’s policy to support bio-economy development in Taiwan could help generate a significant annual revenue estimated at NT$ 3 trillion by 2020.

In 2009, the government formulated the Taiwan Diamond Action Plan for Biotech Takeoff and Taiwan Biotech Industries Takeoff Action Plan, both of which were aimed at helping Taiwan’s biotech industry to keep up with global biotechnology development trends. These measures were also taken aimed at fostering pharmaceutical innovation, further industrialization for medical devices Research and Development as well as for healthcare services. The Taiwan Bio-economy Industries Development Plan will be relying on the Bio Taiwan Committee as a platform for industrial promotion, further expanding on the final results of the work reaped through Taiwan Biotech Industries Takeoff Action Plan, which is deem to end in 2015.

The Taiwan Bio-economy Industries Development Plan will also be integrated with Productivity 4.0, and other developmental measures that answer the needs for the aging society, through the application of ICT-enabled innovation. Consequently, to meet the aforementioned targets, this policy scheme places great emphasis on the development of pharmacy, medical devices, healthcare, food production, and agriculture. Equally, it places importance to industrial technology promotion, interdisciplinary education, regulatory flexibility, investment environment promotion, further industrialization, and internationalization.

1. (Article 99-9) The competent authority shall be Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) of the central government for UAVs weighing 15 kilograms and above. The competent authority shall be local governments (including direct-controlled municipalities, counties, and provincial cities) for UAVs weighing less than 15 kilograms


2. (Article 99-10) UAVs weighing 15 kilograms and above need to be registered and the operators intended for non-profit use shall pass exams for certifications of operating UAVs. Those intended for profit use shall be limited to legal persons who own UAVs and hire qualified operators in accordance with regulations issued by the competent authority, and they shall not run the business for profit before passing a review for the aviation safety and receiving clearance documents from the competent authority.


3. (Article 99-11) Without permissions from the competent authority, any uses of UAVs shall be prohibited within demarcation of prohibited and restricted zones for aviation and airports. Local governments also can prohibit the use of UAVs in some specified areas in best interests of the public.


4. (Article 99-12) The operation of UAVs should comply with some basic rules. These include but not limit to following: (1) shall operate UAVs during the daytime; (2) shall operate not above 400 feet high; (3) one person shall operate one UAV only; (4) shall not throw any object from the UAVs; (5) shall not operate above the outdoor gathering or activities; (6) preventing possible collisions with other aircrafts or objects.


5. (Article 99-13) Owners of UAVs shall have strict liability for any damages resulting from the operations of UAVs. If operators are not the owners, owners shall be jointly and severally liable for damages with the operators. Any owner of a remote UAV weighing 15 kilograms or above shall have liability insurance policy.


6. (Article 99-14) Unless the Act provides otherwise, the Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply in determining the liability of an owner or operator of a remote UAV and the litigation jurisdiction.


7. (Articles 118-1 & 118-2) Any owner or operator of a remote UAV shall comply with the Civil Aviation Act and the relevant administrative regulations issued by the competent authority. Any violation can be result in an administrative fine up to 1.5 million NTD or even a confiscation of the UAV.

To ensure food safety in school and protect students’ health, the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan passed amendments to the School Health Act on December 14, 2015. The latest amendments to the School Health Act are aimed at all school meal providers, and no genetically modified (GM) ingredients and processed foods containing them are allowed in school meals. The cafeterias and food stands in high, middle and elementary schools throughout the country are bound by the new law. The amendments to the School Health Act will change the selection of ingredients that often used in school meals in the past, including corn, soybeans, salmon, soymilk, and tofu.

The amendments to the School Health Act also specifies that: The schools including the high, middle and elementary schools throughout the country must encourage the students to participate the preparation of the school meals on the campus in order to help the students to experience the raw materials of the food and to learn how to choose the healthy food.

To maintain the highest standards for food handling, preparation and serving in schools and to ensure the hygiene of the cafeterias and kitchen, competent authorities should conduct random inspections of 30% of all school meals in high, middle and elementary schools throughout the country at least once per year. A quarter of seats at food service committees are requested to go to the parents of the registered students at the school, so the parents would have the opportunities for providing their feedback and further enhancing health and nutrition among Taiwan students.

All restaurants in the country have the obligations to inform the public with labels or notice if they use genetically altered or engineered food ingredients by Dec. 31 2015. The establishment of a nationwide registry system for foods served on campuses is requested by the new law to help boost preparations to turn local schools into GM food-free environments.

Taipei’s Department of Education said almost half of the city’s 235 schools had already chosen to oppose GM food ingredients. The amendments to the School Health Act will require the other schools to change their policies to choose the non-GM food in their school meals and it will force them to spend an additional NT$2 to NT$3 for each meal.

According to the Ministry of Education, when the new law takes effect, the cost of school meals could increase by NT$5 each from next semester. That would add NT$235.8 million (US$7.17 million) to the ministry’s budget for subsidizing school meals for 262,000 disadvantaged elementary and junior school students.

Abstract:

Government funded science and technology research programs are aimed at improving the creativity and the science and technology development of the research institutes and industries by diffusing the R & D results derived from the research programs.

Second, with the increasingly sophisticated digital network and the internet infrastructure, the diffusion of knowledge is not limited to one country or a specific region, and the internet makes borders disappear, the transfer of the knowledge rapider and more convenient and the costs of transfer of the knowledge lower; due to the sophistication of the internet infrastructure, how to legally use the internet to diffuse the R&D results derived from the government funded R&D programs becomes the top priority to many developed countries which focus on science and technology R&D.

Therefore, in this article I will introduce the new trends of the open access systems and fair use in the developed countries or areas which have amended or will amend their copyright laws and introduce the open access systems in their government funded R&D programs, such as the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and Australia, and how the systems applied to the diffusion of the research papers or publications derived from the government funded R&D programs. Finally, I will analyze the open access system and the fair use and their practices in Taiwan, and discuss whether the experiences of the developed countries above can applied in Taiwan.

Keywords: digital economy, open access, fair use, fair dealing, exceptions and limitations of copyrights

<Source: Yi-Cheng Liu, The Study on Latest International Trends of the Policy on the Open Access and the Exception of Copyright in the Era of the Digital Economy, Science and Technology Law Review Vol. 27 No. 10, October 2015 p.p. 30-54>

Abstract:

Throughout the history, emerging technologies have fundamentally changed how things are made. It also progressively transforms how human beings behave in realties. "Advanced Manufacturing" being widely recognized as the next industrial revolution is characterized as complex, creative, customized, digital, smart and intelligent, and bundling of goods and services.

It is going to reshape the next generation products and its method. By definition given through the relevant authorities, the so-called "Advanced Manufacturing" is a family of activities that (i) depend upon the use of information and communication technology (ICT), and/or (ii) make use of cutting edge materials and emerging capabilities enabled by the physical and biological sciences and their relevant applications.

The paper gets started by analyzing the trend of the global digital trade. It tries to map and construct the multilateral and interactive relationship in the complex world of Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Machine-to-Machine (M2M), and the smart systems under the cap of "System Integration (SI)." The study goes through the relevant laws and policies in promoting the advanced manufacturing in both of the United States, and the upper-level with some of the member states in the European Union. Recall from this megatrend, Taiwan, as an active member in the world trading system, thus, should not fall behind its international counterparts in the market and global supply chain. In 2015, Taiwan officially launched the "Taiwan Productivity 4.0 Initiative." Under this scenario, the paper tries to raise some of the preliminary recommendations in the legal perspective for the initiative’s future implementations.

Keywords: International Economics; Digital Trade; System Integration (SI); Internet of Things (IoT); Big Data; Advanced Manufacturing

<Source: Po-Kun Tsai, Mapping the Lost Pieces ?! Constructing the Legal Framework in Digital Economy in Enabling the Next Production Revolution in Taiwan, Science and Technology Law Review Vol. 27 No. 10, October 2015 p.p. 55-71>

Abstract:

To promote the industrial restructuring, R.O.C’s Board Of Science AND Technology, THE Executive Yuan reported this year (104 years) in June, organized the "Productivity 4.0 Strategy Review Board", 3C, machine tools, metal processing, food, logistics, medical, agricultural and other selected seven key field demonstration IoT, big data, robot and other key elements; meeting developed vision "to build Taiwan into the world’s advanced manufacturing important partner".

To strengthen the upgrading of the manufacturing industry and an important further escalation and sophisticated control, in recent years, the important country have been heavily invested in research and development. Such as the United States to promote "Advanced Manufacturing Plan", EU plan "Advanced Manufacturing Advanced Europe", Germany focusing proposed "Industry 4.0 Plan", U.K. to promote "Advanced Manufacturing", China launched the "Made in China 2025", Japan to promote the "Plan to Revitalize Japanese Industry", etc.

This paper to the United States, European Union, Germany, U.K. promoting legal policy, , the first push advanced manufacturing and other important policies and measures Legal Research and Analysis, and then explore the development of more practical mature "Additive Manufacturing" application areas, the legal basis for policy analysis and focus on research topics, provide in response to recommendations to assist the smooth development of industry.

Keywords: Productivity 4.0, Advanced Manufacturing, Intelligence Manufacturing, l Advanced Manufacturing, industrial upgrading, legal polic

<Source: Ko-Yi Lee, The Study on International Trends of the Legal Policy to Promote Advanced Manufacturing, Science and Technology Law Review Vol. 27 No. 11, November 2015 p.p. 21-49>

Abstract:

With the coming of the Innovation-based economy era, technology research has become the tool of advancing competitive competence for enterprises and academic institutions. Each country not only has begun to develop and strengthen their competitiveness of industrial technology but also has dedicated to developing and structuring their related measure for deepening the Industry-University collaboration. By doing so, they hope to promote collaboration of Industry-University research, completely bring out the economic benefits of the R&D to depict the vision for national technology research.

Upon the trend, this paper will focus on America, Canada, and Japan, using qualitative method to introduce the important policy of improving Industry-University collaboration and funding projects internationally. This paper will further analyze the feature and functionally of R&D projects in the said countries, and finally propose the systematic model of Industry-University collaboration.

Keywords: Industry-University Cooperation; Technology Research and Development; Advanced Manufacturing Partnership; Strategic Project Grants; Technology Research Union

<Source: Yi-Ting Wang, An Analysis of International Trends and Legal Issues of Promoting Technology Research Collaboration, Science and Technology Law Review Vol. 27 No. 12, December 2015 p.p. 34-50>

Abstract:

Big Data and its respective analysis and application is a major trend for international development in recent years. Medical field, in particular, combined with the recent Big Data trend would create innovative services. In return, these services will generate enormous economic value. With wearable devices becoming increasingly popular, these wearables make the collection of medical data even simpler. This indirectly promotes the application of e-Health and also the use of Big Data.

Japan, already as an "aged society" defined by United Nations 24 years prior to ours back in 1994, has been quite proactive in the promotion of e-Health policies. In recent years, Japan has placed more emphasis on the analysis and application of Big Data and in May 2014, " The Act to Promote Healthcare and Medical Strategy " has passed and is used to promote the healthcare of the country as a whole and to be used as the blueprint for future health policies. The promotion of various projects calls for industry, government, scholars and various experts to unite and progressively but rigorously research on technological development, personnel training, legal deregulations, etc. Meanwhile, the research must be able to cooperate with the periodic reviews and revision of "My Number Act" and " Act on the Protection of Personal Information ". Therefore, the observation of Japan’s recent promotion of e-Health and Big Data policies and legislations provides us a direction and reference for our future policies.

Keywords: Japan, e-Health, big data, act on the protection of personal information, my number act

<Source: I-Chieh Ho, Observation of the trend in e-Health promotion and Big Data application in Japan, Science and Technology Law Review Vol. 27 No. 12, December 2015 p.p. 51-69>