經通國際智慧產權事務所

According to the press release issued by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) on Jan. 14, 2010, the Agricultural Production and Certification Act was published on Jan. 29, 2007, and the grace period of two years duration has already expired. Thus, starting from Jan. 31, 2009, all organic produce for sale should be certified or examined in accordance with Article 5(1), 6(1) and 23(1)-2 of the Agricultural Production and Certification Act. For a violation of the said articles, the offender shall be punished with the fine of not less than NTD60,000 and not more than NTD300,000. In addition, the said articles should also apply to all applicable registered names of food-related goods or services.

For all the issued trademark certificates bearing the trademarks containing the word of “organic” and designating agriculturally related goods or services, the TIPO has indicated the phrase of “the operation of designated goods/services of this trademark should follow the applicable laws and regulations” on the said certificates. Thus, the said articles of the Agricultural Production and Certification Act should be adhered to by all regarded registrants.

In addition, according to Article 23(1), 57(1)-5 and Chapter 6 of Trademark Act, for trademarks “likely to mislead the public with respect to the nature, quality, or place of origin of the designated goods or services”, the TIPO has the right to lawfully cancel or invalidate such trademarks.

At last, according to the Imported Organic Agricultural Product and Organic Agricultural Processed Product Management Regulations, organic agricultural produce imported from foreign countries has to be filed with the governing organization for examination. And the listing of approved foreign organic produce certifying organizations and countries with equivalent regulation of organic agricultural produce to Taiwan are listed in the web page below posted by the Agriculture and Food Agency, Concil of Agriculture, Executive Yuan: http://www.afa.gov.tw/organicAgriculture.asp?CatID=237

Derived from the press release by TIPO

Organized and translated by Ken Hsu

International Affairs