Our management policy of genetically modified organisms has been announced. Under the condition of not having any influences on our country main export products, the government expects to gradually permit and release the genetically modified crop planting after assessing the safety of food and environment. In the near future, through the genetically modified technology, we can integrate the anticancer factor, Hepatitis B therapeutic, or SARS resistant vaccines, into tomatoes, eggs, etc. The potential of such commercial opportunity and industrial value will be extremely surprising.

In addition, Executive Yuan also held a meeting of "Biotechnology Industry Steering Group of Executive Yuan" yesterday which has proposed the illustration of our genetically modified organisms management policy. It can, through such illustration to cooperate closely with local governments and to hold public orientations, gather views from the general public in the future. At the same time, the Science and Technology Advisory Group of Executive Yuan also states that the research and development for new medicine of genetically modified will be a lot quicker than biotechnological pharmaceutics. Within few years, this newly developing industry will propagate around the world.

Genetically modified has been referred to be one of the most influential newly developed technologies in the twenty-first century. It wildly relate to human health, environmental safety, ecological protection, the coexistence possibility of the genetically modified and non-genetically modified crops, and controversies of ethic and morality perspectives, hence, it has caught the attention of various communities extensively. It is reported that our consumers are still cautious about eating the genetically modified food, and some are even worried the possibilities of not only eating poisonous genetically modified food, but also triggering irritations on the human body. Meanwhile, despite the insufficient experimental period, there is still certain distance from the traditional staple food based on the viewpoint of edible safety.

According to the officials, genically modified technology will be actively developed by a variety of measures of researches, developments, and effective management, under the conditions of not influencing our country main export products and ensuring people health and ecological safety. In the future, through genically modified crops and animals to make new medicine will be much faster than devel.

Since the revision of the current patent law of February 6th, 2003 and the implementation on July 1st, 2004, the Intellectual Property Office has continuously observed the transitions of international intellectual property rights and discussed any patent amendments in order to cooperate with the rapid development of current technology. Besides, regarding with current enforcements of patent law, the Intellectual Property Office also takes into consideration from various perspectives to aggressively review not only any insufficiencies, but also any needed amendments. In the future patent law revision drafts will include the following main topics:

1. To enforce "Biotechnology Industry Steering Group of Executive Yuan", the committee has decided to fully release the patent protection of plant and animal, and to establish regulations of the right and scope, doctrine of exhaustion, non-commercial use, farmers' disclaimer, compulsory license and cross-licensing…etc.

2. To cooperate with WTO and for the public health issues, members are compulsory licensed to produce medicines for the non-commercial purpose of public welfare, to help the developing and under developing countries obtaining critical medicines due to national emergencies, or to assist with other crisis legally.

3. To clearly define the efficacy of the patent law does not involve any private behaviors with non-commercial purposes based on the provision about disclaimer of research and experiment.

To enforce "the inspection mechanism of comprehensive intellectual property rights" from the Committee on Economic Development and the motion of "coordinating and improving the Patent and Trademark binary relief system, and simply combined the level of relief system" from meetings of the Science and Technology Advisory Group of Executive Yuan, the Intellectual Property Office has actively set into actions of innovation of the Patent and Trademark relief system for which to respond with the official operation of the Court of Intellectual Property in July 2008. At the end of last year, the Intellectual Property Office has also obtained the approval of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to simply combine the level of the Patent and Trademark relief system, and for which to plan with authorities concerned in the future.

In addition, to make each revision more complete and meet with expectation of the general public, the Intellectual Property Office has launched on its webpage, not only forums for regulation such as patent, trademark, property right, and public services, but also platforms providing records or meeting minutes of relevant public hearings and seminars as to gather public opinion and issues for future reference.

With the advent of the era of knowledge economy, intellectual property management, use and protection, has become a new era of economic survival and development of industries and an important means of international competition. Meanwhile, to help and enhance industries carrying out security and relief of rights and to strengthen the effectiveness and quality of intellectual property cases in trial, it is essential to establish a high quality environment of intellectual property legal system, furthermore to stimulate innovations and upgrading of enterprises and overall national competitiveness.

According to the proviso to Article 72, paragraph 2 of the Statute for Upgrading Industries, Article 5 to 20-1 and Article 70-1 of the same statute will cease to be effective at the end of 2009. It is estimated that the government will increase tax revenue by NTD 150 billion after the expiration of the statute. The Executive Yuan yesterday (20) approved the tax-reduction program accompanying with the sunset of the Statute for Upgrading Industries proposed by the Ministry of Finance.

The program plans to cancel the current additional profit-seeking income tax levying at the rate of 10％ on undistributed surplus pursuant to Article 66-9, paragraph 1 of the Income Tax Act. The tax rate of profit seeking enterprises income tax will also be adjusted from 25 percent pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 5, subparagraph 3 of the same Act down to 17.5 percent. Additionally, the personal consolidated tax rates for five brackets will be adjusted from 6％、13％、21％、30％、40％ down to 5.5％、12％、19.5％、28％、39％.

According to the reform program, the special deduction for the disabled or handicapped and of income from salaries/wages will both be raised from current NT$ 78 thousand and 77 thousand to NT$ 100,000, different from NT$ 82,000 in the Draft Income Tax Act brought by the Executive Yuan to Legislative Yuan during last legislative session. As to the special deduction for educational tuition, the program remains NT$25,000, the same as the Draft. Additionally, the program also raises the standard deduction from NT$ 46,000 to NT$ 60,000 for a single taxpayer; NT$ 92,000 to NT$ 120,000 for a taxpayer and his or her spouse.

The Finance Minister stated that the Ministry of Economic Affairs will draft the bill for "Three Major Industrial Laws”, which are Industries Development Basic Law, Act Governing Establishment and Management of Industrial Park and Industrial Innovation Value-Added Act in response to the imminent sunset of the Statute for Upgrading Industries and the Ministry of Finance will revise the Income Tax Act. It is scheduled to put the new tax system into practice in year 99 of the R.O.C.(2010), if legislation timetable is on track. Once the bills passed, Taiwan will have the second lowest profit seeking enterprises income tax in the world, second only to Ireland.

The government organization reform will start at the beginning of 2010. Executive Yuan approved the Draft Executive Yuan Organization Act yesterday (20), which will set up 14 ministries and 7 commissions in the future. The Executive Yuan has set up 8 ministries and 2 commissions according to the Executive Yuan Organization Act presently and extended setting up administrations, bureaus and councils etc. depending on business needs. The Draft proposed establishing 14 ministries, 7 commissions and 5 independent institutions.

The 14 ministries are Ministry of the Interior and Homeland Security, Ministry of the Interior and Homeland Security, Ministry of Foreign and Overseas Compatriot Affair, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Sports, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economic and Commercial Affairs, Ministry of Transportation and Constructions, Ministry of Labor and Human Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Sanitation and Social Welfare, Ministry of Environmental Resources, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Veterans Affairs. The 7 commissions are National Development Commission, Technology Commission, Mainland Affairs Commission, Maritime Commission, Indigenous People Commission, Hakka Affairs Commission, Gender-Equality Commission. The 5 independent institutions are the Central Bank of China, the Central Election Commission, the Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Supervisory Commission and the National Communication Commission.

According to the Draft, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will be renamed Ministry of Economic and Commercial Affairs and in charge of Science Park originally administered by National Science Council. The Businesses Ministry of Finance in charge will include the finance industry, participation promotion cases and government procurement etc...

The draft bill, along with amendments to the Organic Standard Law of Central Government Agencies and the Draft Provisional Statute on the Adjustment of the Functions, Businesses and Organization of the Executive Yuan, will be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review.

The Draft Organic Standard Law of Central Government Agencies will revise the ceiling of 13 ministries and 4 commissions to 14 ministries and 7 commissions, the ceiling of 104 departments to 112 and the ceiling of 50 administrations and bureaus to 54 in response to the draft.

In order to promote mobile television services in Taiwan, the National Communications Commission （hereinafter referred to as "NCC"）not only organized a work group in November 2007, but also plans to finish the rearrangement of wireless spectrums and to enact or amend related regulations before the end of 2008. The NCC approved an initial policy framework on January 31, 2008, and published an official document on the Web site www.ncc.gov.tw to ask for public opinions. In addition to the liberation of new licenses, the NCC also discussed and analyzed how to utilize the mass media or telecommunication platform in existence to provide mobile television services.

The NCC’s document indicates that three blocks of nationwide wireless spectrum licenses with 6MHz bandwidth will be issued in the early phase. Applying for services is transacted by a two-stage procedure: the applicant must pass the review of operational qualifications and requirements firstly, and then participate in the bidding of spectrums. The winners shall provide subscribers with TV channel services at least 50 percent of the bandwidth capacity which the authority assigns, and the license’s expiration period will be six years. Because the uniform market standard of the broadcast technology utilized in mobile television service has not been established yet, the NCC will not designate a specific technology standard but the service still must have the following fundamental requirements : (1) providing 320 x 240 dpi TV programs of eight channels at least in the capacity of 6MHz bandwidth. (2) the capability to support uninterrupted wireless TV services of mobile equipments at the speed of 110 km/hr. (3) complying with technology standards defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), or other international or regional organizations. Besides, in order to encourage new technology, the Telecommunication Act will apply to mobile television services so that the service provider must be a stock company whose paid-in capital is at least NT$ one billion. According to the project, the NCC plans to reserve one license for the enterprises who are not eligible to offer 3G mobile communication or wireless broadband access services for fear that wireless spectrum resources may concentrate among the minor enterprises.

Online copyright infringement has become a serious problem in Taiwan for a period of time, and has been criticized for its negative impacts on intellectual property right holders. In view of the fact that most property and plate right infringements on copyrighted works could not possibly take place without the assistance of platform service provided by Internet Service Providers ("ISPs"), Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) is considering amending the Copyright Act of Taiwan to solve the above-mentioned problems.

The Draft Amendments to Copyright Law ("Draft Amendments") has taken the view that on the one hand, it would be cost-efficient if ISPs are obligated to remove infringing materials on their hosting websites; on the other hand, however, it is necessary to establish a “safe harbor” mechanism to protect ISPs from exceeding legal responsibilities.

The Draft Amendments to Copyright Law not only clarifies ISPs’ responsibilities for illegal acts of their users, it also states that ISPs shall take affirmative actions to prevent future infringements from happening. Copyright holders are entitled to ask the ISPs to remove any infringing materials. In return, ISPs are then exempted from the potential copyright liabilities. To sum up, this Draft Amendments to Copyright Law considered a DMCA–like (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) model and tried to adopt the established "notice & take down" scheme under the US Copyright Act.

The other essentials of the Draft Amendments include the following:

1. Article 88 of the Draft Amendments stipulates that abetting the infringements of property or plate rights will be held jointly liable for any legal responsibilities.

2. Article 90-4 of the Draft Amendments lists four kinds of Internet service providers that are eligible for the Limitation of ISP Liability Act.

3. Clarifying that ISPs may be liable for illegal acts of the users, and shall take affirmative actions to stop infringements (as provided by Article 90-5 of the Draft Amendments).

4. Article 90-6 of the Draft Amendments excludes the application of "notice & take down" for transmitting service providers.

5. Article 90-7 of the Draft Amendments provides detailed rules and regulations for ISPs to follow regarding the removal and replacement of copyright-protected materials.

6. Article 90-8 of the Draft Amendments authorizes TIPO to enact the Limitation of ISP Liability Act for further complementary regulations.

The research results of universities are generally key elements for improving technology. The government sponsors universities' research activities whose results can create more macro economic interests. Universities can invest the profits in new academic research and development. Hence, universities play a more important role for transfer technology than before. Germany amended in 2002 Art. 42 of the Employee's Invention Act which specially regulates employee's invention of university. Its goal looks forward to stimulating the invention research staffs at university, enhancing the cooperation between university and industry, and improving the international competitiveness of German industry. There are national and private universities in Taiwan. Basically, national university in Taiwan and German university are similar. This essay focuses on the new Art.42 of the Employee's Invention Act and approaches whether the German model for university's staffs can be taken as example in Taiwan.

<Source: Li-Juan, Chen, The comparative approach on the invention of employees at public universities between Germany and Taiwan, Science & Technology Law Review Vol. 20 No. 01, Jan 2008, p.p. 48~61.>

Should those who develop and distribute file sharing software bear responsibility for copyright infringement, even if they do not directly engage in such behavior? Do online service providers have the duty to help copyright holders monitor and curb illegal downloading? This paper explains legislation and legal decisions concerning P2P transmission in European and the US, and also provides an in-depth discussion of the Sony, Napster, and Grokster cases. The paper starts with a brief explanation of the concept of copyright infringement responsibility. It then introduces the American DMCA's disclaimer for online service providers (OSPs) and the EU's Information Society Directive (Directive 2001/29/EEC) and Enforcement Directive 2004/48/EC, and summarizes views concerning the conflict of values engendered by copyright protection involving P2P transmission in the "post-Grokster age." Another aspect explored in the paper concerns issues involving criminal law arising from copyright protection cases in Taiwan. Finally, the paper presents personal views concerning whether Taiwan should adopt disclaimers and a compensation system. From the point of view of the market economy, America's Sony case is highly enlightening: It illustrates that vigorously protecting copyrights is not as good as changing commercial business models so as to provide consumers with legal, inexpensive, and convenient online download channels that also leave less room for piracy and sharply curtail copyright infringement.

<Source: Hong-Yi, Shiao, The DMCA issues in the P2P and the Responsibilities of Online Service Providers, Science & Technology Law Review Vol. 20 No. 02, Feb 2008, p.p. 28~58.>

This paper explored the external regulatory frameworks and internal legal relationships of two emerging IT-enabled financial services: (1) mobile and micro payment; (2) third party payment. It focused on the restrictive effect of existing legal framework, and analyzed possible opportunities resulting from industry innovation, as well as cross-sectoral competition. Several unsettled legal disputes and consumer protection issues are carefully examined in respecting parts of this paper.

<Source: Wan-Qiong, Cheng, Study on the Regulatory Framework of Mobile Payment and Third Party Payment, Science & Technology Law Review Vol.20 No. 03, Mar 2008, p.p. 15~38.>

Since there is no boundary in the era of internet, the modern technology has been in its convergence of electronic communications and media. However, the development of E-commerce, in fact, has discrepancy in market rules under the difference legal frameworks between countries. For not being intervened by different laws, the cross-border E-commerce depends on being established with legal integrity through international collaboration. Due to E-Commerce leading boundaryless information flow, the global trend of future business models takes us to the next level of globalism. Because Taiwan, Japan and Korea have close relationship and interaction in E-Commerce business, the purpose of this article is becoming a reference for promotion and reform of E-commerce legal environment in Taiwan. Therefore, this article analyzes the difference between E-Commerce legal frameworks in Japan and Korea by the comparison of compliance and highlighted development. Moreover, it also provides the future legal trends of Japan and Korea to readers to understand the innovative technology and fast-changing market among these two countries where are undergoing a dynamic and rapid economic development.

<Source: Kai-Ying, Pong, The Comparison of E-Commerce Legal Framework and Development Between Japan and Korea, Science & Technology Law Review Vol.20 No. 03, Mar 2008, p.p. 39~61. >