Proposed amendments to the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court Organization Act (智慧財產及商業法院組織法) yesterday passed their third reading in the Legislative Yuan.
According to the changes, all first appellate court trials on the alleged theft of technology considered critical to national security would be handed to the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court.
Specifically, the court’s jurisdiction would extend to first trial cases for alleged contraventions of Article 13-1 of the Trade Secrets Act (營業祕密法), as well as all related civil lawsuits, and second trial cases on alleged breaches of the Trade Secrets Act.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Contravention of the acts in foreign territories, including China, Hong Kong or Macau, would be considered eligible for prosecution under the intellectual property and commercial court organization act, the amendments say.
The proposed amendments are in line with amendments to Article 18 of the National Security Act (國家安全法), approved on June 8 last year, which considers trade secrets a part of national security.
A previous amendment to the act on Jan. 12 states that contravening an investigation confidentiality protective order would no longer observe the principle of “no trial without complaint,” and that offenders could face up to five years in prison and a fine of NT$3 million (US$98,441).
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about