Newsletter
COURT COULD APPLY FOREIGN LAWS IN TRADEMARK IN-FRINGEMENT SUITS
IP infringements taking place in Taiwan are normally governed by Taiwan law. However, if the IP owner or the infringer is a foreign entity or individual, laws of Taiwan do not necessarily apply, according to a 2005 appeal judgment in a civil damages suit for trademark infringement. In that case, the trademark owner was a foreign corporation and the alleged infringer was a Taiwanese company. The Supreme Court stated that as the trademark owner was a foreign cor-poration, the case was a civil case involving foreign elements. However, the trial court did not determine the governing law applicable to the case in accordance with the Act Governing the Choice of Law in Civil Cases Involving Foreign Elements to choose the applicable law. Therefore the Supreme Court set aside the judgment as unlawful.
However, it is worth noting that under Article 9 of the above Act, the governing law for an action for tort is the law of the place where the tortious act was committed. Thus the result of applying the Act would still refer to the laws of Taiwan.