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PATENT RIGHTS DURING OPPOSITION PERIOD
Article 50, Paragraph 1 of the Patent Law provides that patent rights become effective when the provisional granting of a patent is announced. However, the law does not explicitly state whether infringement of a provisionally granted patent constitutes a criminal violation.
In a recent criminal appeal ruling, the Taichung District Court held that the penal clauses of the Patent Law constitute a criminal law of special application, and as such no uncertainty should be admitted in their definition of an offence. Under Article 50, Paragraph 1 of the law, a provisionally granted patent becomes effective on its publication; however, Paragraph 4 of the same article provides that where a patent application is rejected due to a procedural defect, or is successfully opposed, the provisional patent rights granted pursuant to Paragraph 1 shall be deemed void ab initio. From this, it is apparent that such rights are unconfirmed. Therefore acts infringing such unconfirmed rights cannot be held to constitute criminal offences under the law.