Taiwan Looks To Join ACTA

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch

Taiwan may become the first new country to join the ranks of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

According to a news release by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), the new programme to protect intellectual property rights will not only continue ongoing work to stop product illegal copying and product piracy, but also prepare for joining ACTA. The programme succeeds earlier work that earned Taiwan removal from the United States’ trade watch list and applause from the US industry Business Software Alliance as the country ranked third lowest in software piracy after Japan and Singapore, TIPO said in its announcement.

According to the Taiwanese government news platform Taiwan Today, the Deputy Director of TIPO, Kao Jing-yuan, said that Taiwan would prepare its legislation to join ACTA as soon as it could apply to become a member, which would be soonest in 2013. Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco and South Korea signed the controversial agreement on 1 October. Adoption in the European Union, Switzerland and Mexico is pending and, in the case of the EU and Mexico, faces opposition from within the legislative bodies.

The announcement by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office is here (in Chinese).

The article on Taiwan Today is here.