2 November, 2017
The TIPO promulgated the Handling Guidelines for Reviewing and Copying Files of Trademark Cases, which came into effect on July 28, 2017. The major provisions of said Handling Guidelines are summarized below.
In principle, the trademark cases that have been withdrawn, dismissed or concluded with final decision may be reviewed, and the files and materials therein may be photocopied, by anyone by application with the TIPO.
The party or an interested party to a trademark case shall be permitted to apply with the TIPO for reviewing and photocopying of the files and materials therein when the case has not been withdrawn, dismissed or concluded with final decisions, or when the assignment, licensing, pledge, trust, employment or other agreements or documents therein do not contain personal privacy or trade secret information. In the event that the documents or materials in a trademark case contain personal privacy or trade secret information, the scope of the review or photocopying shall be restricted to those materials or documents originally submitted by the applicant for the review.
Files of a trademark case that have been scanned and stored electronically may be reviewed electronically upon application. The methods and procedure of the electronic review of trademark case files will be promulgated and implemented by the TIPO.
For further information, please contact:
Joyce I. Ho, Partner, Tsar & Tsai Law Firm
joyeho@tsartsai.com.tw
