Newsletter
The Ministry of Economic Affairs invites public comments for drafting “Regulations on the Registration and Management of Trademark Agents” commencing 14 July 2023
In order to certify professional competence along with the registration and management of trademark agency business, enhance the transparency of trademark agents, and protect the rights and interests of trademark applicants and proprietors of registered trademarks, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, based on Paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Trademark Act, which was revised and promulgated on 24 May 2023, has prepared a draft version of the “Regulations on the Registration and Management of Trademark Agents” (hereinafter the “Draft”), whose key points are as follows:
1. Basis of authorization (Article 1 of the Draft).
2. Entrustment, holding and qualifications of entrustment of an examination measuring professional trademark competence (Articles 2 and 3 of the Draft).
3. Qualifications and relevant documents to be submitted when applying for registration as a trademark agent (Articles 4 and 5 of the Draft).
4. A person who does not apply to register as a trademark agent according to Article 109-1 of the Trademark Act cannot carry out trademark agency business unless they comply with Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 6 of the Trademark Act (Article 6 of the Draft).
5. Corrections of errors will be required if an application to register as a trademark agent does not conform to standard legal practice (Act 7 of the Draft).
6. Implementation of on-the-job training, calculation of hours of participation, and consequences of violations thereof for a trademark agent (Articles 8 and 9 of the Draft).
7. Application for cancellation of a license to practice by a trademark agent who has ceased practicing (Article 10).
8. Scope of commissioned practices of a trademark agent (Article 11 of the Draft).
9. Negative qualifications of a trademark agent (Article 12 of the Draft).
10. Trademark agent code of conduct (Articles 13 and 14 of the Draft).
11. Management measures in trademark agency business (Articles 15-20 of the Draft).
12. Items required in the roster of trademark agents (Article 21 of the Draft).
13. The effect of registration will remain unchanged if there is an alteration to the registered items of a trademark agent (Article 22 of the Draft).
14. Anyone may report legal or regulatory violations by a trademark agent (Article 23 of the Draft).
15. Convening and composing a council to deal with trademark agency events (Article 24 of the Draft).
16. Effective date of the Regulations (Article 25 of the Draft).
According to Articles 4 and 5 of the Draft, anyone applying to become a registered trademark agent must meet the following conditions:
1. Passing the trademark professional competence examination and obtaining a certificate therefor.
2. Has worked in trademark review for more than ten years with a competent trademark authority and exceeded expectations with supporting evidence as per Article 14 of the Trademark Act.
3. Has continuously performed trademark agency business for three years prior to the revision and promulgation of the amendments to the Trademark Act on 9 May 2023, and handled more than ten trademark registration applications and related procedural matters in each of those years.