Taiwan

Taiwan boasts a strong legal market, thanks in part to its leading role in semi-conductor and other high-tech manufacturing. The legal market in Taipei – and, indeed, elsewhere around Taiwan – is robust and competitive, giving it outsize strength for a jurisdiction with a working age population of just 16.55 million people.

Taiwan’s strength in technology extends to pharmaceuticals, these days. In August 2021, President Tsai Ing-wen received her first dose of the island’s do-mestically developed coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine, developed by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp., was giving emergency approval by regulators in July.

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In 22 years, ALIPO, the Asia Liuh Intellectual Property Office, takes credit for more than 11,000 patents and 16,000 trademarks. The firm is headquartered in Taichung, with a branch office in Kaohsiung.

Asian Pacific Int’l Patent & Trademark Office boasts 300,000 clients worldwide for its patent, trademark, copyright and legal services. With offices in New Taipei City and Kaohsiung, the firm offers the full range of IP services to clients including large corporations, government organizations, education-al institutions and individuals. Asian Pacific will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.

Baker McKenzie enjoys a prominent presence in Taiwan. The firm’s patent capabilities include computer systems and peripheral devices, semiconductors and packaging, optoelectronics, liquid crystal display, communication systems, software, business methods, biotechnology and medical equipment. The trade-mark team registers trademarks, drafts licensing contracts, negotiates disputes and advises on trademark, trade secret and copyright protection. The firm works closely with government authorities such as TIPO to ban counterfeits and prompt police raids. Partner Grace Shao is a key contact.

Brain Trust International Law Firm provides advice on a wide range of intellectual property issues with an eye towards its intersection with taxation and antitrust and competition law. Managing partner Hung Ou Yang, who specializes in transnational legal disputes, is a key contact. He advised Ferrari with regard to trademark infringement, among many other cases. He receives high marks from clients for being extremely communicative.

Chen & Lin is noted for its general business advice in Taiwan, including a top intellectual property practice, as well as providing advice in corporate, se-curities, finance and business litigation. The firm’s clients include a wide variety of clients including a world-class semiconductor foundry company, several mul-tinational corporations and many major national and international players in high tech and information industry involved in patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret license or infringement, telecommunication, depositary receipt or convertible bond issuance, joint venture, mergers and acquisition, trade practic-es, syndicated loan arrangement and environment protection. The firm, which was founded in 1992, is led by Che-Hung Chen, who has extensive experience in legal issues that could be faced by industries such as semiconductor, tele-communication, pharmaceuticals and information and high tech. Partner Shelly Chen is also a key contact.

Deep & Far was founded by CF Tsai, who has significant experience in both patent and trademark matters after more than three decades of practice in the field. The firm focuses on all aspects of IP including patents, trademarks, copy-right, trade secrets and unfair competition. Tsai is friendly and helpful in han-dling IP questions.

Eiger provides a variety of services for clients in and outside Taiwan, in-cluding handling trademark enforcement efforts in Taiwan on behalf of major American fashion label Tory Burch. Senior partner John Eastwood, of the firm’s greater China practice, has headed up the firm’s intellectual property and tech-nology practice for the past several years. Of counsel Eve Chen is an ex-perienced litigator and counselor with a strong background in intellectual property enforcement, working with many major brands on their coun-try-wide efforts. The firm has done anti-counterfeiting work against sell-ers of fake Toms shoes, resulting in more than US$2 million in fakes being seized and destroyed by authorities. It has also done licensing work for Dol-by.

The Enlighten Law Group ad-vised an American company in patent and copyright litigation against a Taiwanese company which had handed over the client’s design layout to other manufacturers. The firm is heavily involved in Fin-Tech, and is noted for pointing out legal minefields for clients and balancing their new ideas and compliance with regulatory requirements. Leading partner Kunchou Tsai is skilful and well-respected at IP, banking and finance, corporate finance and M&A matters.

Global law firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner has an active IP practice in Taipei. Top IP strategist Gary C. Ma is managing partner of the firm’s Taipei office; he defended ADATA Technology (USA) against allegations of patent infringement directed to its solid state drives, represented Wonderland Nurserygoods Co. in an action to enforce its patents against infringining products from Kids II, and defended Nuna International and Nuna Baby Essentials in a pat-ent action brought by Britax Child Safety, asserting patents directed to child safe-ty seats. Partner Bob Yoches divides his time between Taipei and Washington. His practice focuses on high-tech issues; he has been first chai in several U.S. Interna-tional Trade Commission and district court actions.

Founded by John Chen and Paiff Huang, Taipei-based Formosa Transnation-al assists companies, entrepreneurs, agencies and organizations, both foreign and domestic, to solve the legal challenges which have arisen as a result of the country’s technological improvements and economic growth. Managing partner Yulan Kuo, who leads the IP team,

is noted for his work inpatent litigation, as well as biotechnology and IT technology.

Formosan Brothers is one Taipei’s top full-service law firms. The firm has separate trademark and patent practices, each of which includes prosecution/maintenance and enforcement/dispute resolution divisions; a copyright/trade secret protection and dispute resolution practice; and a comprehensive biomedical team which leads its medical technology and health care practice. Director and managing partner Yvonne Y.F. Lin and managing partner Jessie C.Y. Lee are key contacts for most IP matters; partner Yow-Lun Su is an excellent medical technology contact. The firm also has an office in Hsinchu, near Taiwan’s primary high-tech corridor.

Giant Group International Patent, Trademark & Law Office in Taipei is noted for its litigation expertise, as well as its prosecution and filing work. It has extensive experience in courts and before government agencies, covering the full depth and breadth of intellectual property laws: patent, trademark, copy-right, trade secret, unfair competition, and antitrust. It is often called upon for expert advice in the acquisition and procurement of intellectual property rights, and has extensive experience in biotechnology, chemicals, computers and elec-tronics, internet and e-commerce and mechanical matters. Giant Group also provides company establishment, company change, tax services, accounting and bookkeeping and related services.

Jones Day offers a broad range of advice on tech matters in Taipei, includ-ing advice and services aimed at intellectual property rights owners. Partner-in-charge Jason Chen focuses on commercial disputes, arbitration and IP; he served as a Taiwan District Court judge for almost 10 years adjudicating criminal and civil cases and was certified as the first professional intellectual property law judge by the Taiwan Judicial Yuan in 2002. Chen has led litigation teams and has handled prominent cases that include serving as lead counsel and securing a favorable judgment for a publicly listed petrochemical company in its defense of a patent infringement claim of US$100 million, which is the highest claim in Taiwan’s history.

The IP practice group at LCS & Partners handles licensing, negotiation and consultation on IP matters, as well as provisional actions and litigation. The firm’s entertainment practice has acted as counsel, obtained government ap-proval and negotiated contracts for numerous world-class artists in Taiwan, including Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma and Luciano Pavarotti. It also provides advice to foreign companies on compliance and other related issues for setting up car-nivals and circus events in Taiwan. In 2017, the firm’s FinTech practice group published the first FinTech legal book in Taiwan, FinTech Law and Development. The book covers topics including virtual currency, ICO, crowdfunding, electron-ic payments, robo advisors, P2P lending and the sharing economy.

With headquarters in Taipei and branch offices in Hsinchu, Taichung and southern Taiwan, Lee and Li was named the Asia IP patent firm of the year for Taiwan in 2020. The firm has formed an alliance with Leaven IPR Agency in Bei-jing to develop the mainland China market. Senior counselors Joseph Yang and Cathy Ting and partners Ruey-Sen Tsai, Dennis Huang and Hsiu-Ru Chien are key contacts at the firm. The firm was named Taiwan patents firm of the year at the 2020 Asia IP Awards.

Founded in Taipei in 1998 with the motto “reason” and “compassion”, Lee, Tsai and Partners has grown steadfastly as one of Taiwan’s multi-awarded IP and investment companies. Its founders, Chung-Teh Lee and Jaclyn Tsai, have previously worked as judges but now, through their firm, instead bring profes-sionalism and prestige to the legal industry. A key contact is Partner Jane Tsai, who joined the firm in 2008, and has since represented and advised several com-panies in Taiwan on infringement and trademark issues.

Lexcel Partners IP is a full-service IP management company led by CEO Jolene Wang. The firm has worked with TIPO to complete the Draft of Patent Examination Guidelines and to execute a number of patent and trademark in-ternational conferences, as well as to establish the Taiwan Intellectual Property Training Academy, a training institute for IP professionals. It works closely with sister firm Lexcel Partners, which offers a full-service corporate law experience.

Li & Cai Intellectual Property Office was founded in 1985 in Taipei. The team seeks to provide client-oriented service. In addition to pre-application planning, the team was ranked in the top five service satisfaction of domestic enterprises in Taiwan by a local ranking agency. The firm has about 140 em-ployees, including more than 70 lawyers, patent attorneys and trademark agents. The firm’s patent engineers focus on material science and chemistry (21%), me-chanical engineering (39%) and electronics and information technology (40%). The firm has a branch office in Washington where US patent attorneys draft ap-plications and communicate with USPTO examiners.

Lin & Partners advises clients on contentious and non-contentious e-com-merce, publishing, copyright, patent and trademark matters, for clients includ-ing companies in traditional industries as well as manufacturers, designers and suppliers in the IT industry. The firm represents a leading global semiconductor foundry in patent disputes against a NASDAQ-listed company, including litiga-tion strategy and settlement negotiations with the opposing party. The firm also has a gaming and hospitality group that, among other things, advises the gov-ernment on the creation of the legal and regulatory framework to govern casino gaming in Taiwan. Managing partner George Lin is a frequent public speaker both in Taiwan and overseas to explain the proposed legislation, investment and other regulatory requirements and related matters. The firm is conducting re-search for potential legalization in Taiwan of horse racing wagering.

Long River International Patent & Trademark Office is led by Patent Lin, the firm’s director, vice director Frank Chen and Der-Ming Hou, each of whom are representative partners. The firm boasts teams of patent engineers, patent attorneys, lawyers and a biological and pharmaceutical group. It is noted for its work in patent and trademark applications and maintenance; it also provides as-sistance in other legal matters, including unfair competition, protection of trade secrets and corporate law matters.

Louis International Patent Office has more than 100 members working in its technology, procedural and legal affairs departments. Managing partner Paul C.C. Chen specializes in e-commerce, mechanical, semiconductor and chemical fields. The firm’s technology department consists of around 70 patent agents and patent engineers on the three major technical fields of mechanical, chemical and electric and electronic engineering.

Russin & Vecchi is a commercial law firm advising on corporate and commercial transactions, competition and anti-trust law, as well as IP matters. With 11 independent but affiliated offices across the world including Thailand, Vietnam, Russia and the US, the firm has practiced both prosecution and contentious trademark matters for over 25 years for its MNC clients and foreign law firms. T.Y. Lee and Helen Y. Wang are key contacts for IP matters.

With offices in major cities of Taiwan including Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Chiayi and Kaohsiung, Saint Island International Patent & Law Offices has en-gaged in assisting domestic clients seeking IP protection not only domestically but also globally. The Taipei office in particular is well- staffed with lawyers, patent attorneys and engineers experienced in international IP practice and capable of meeting the needs of international clients in all aspects. Managing partner Patrick I.C. Yun is a key contact.

Sigma IPR provides customized advice and services to clients in a wide va-riety of industries. The firm is led by managing director Clarice Chen, who brings significant experience in chemicals and biochemical-related patent prosecution and holds a Master’s degree in chemical engineering. Chen has worked in the IP field for more than 30 years, including 15 years at one of Taiwan’s largest law firms, and is a key contact for patent dispute matters. The firm, which was previously known as Rich IP & Co., launched its new Sigma IPR brand in July 2021.

Sundial Intellectual Property Law Firm handles patent and trademark prosecutions. Managing partner Edmund M.H. Chi specializes in patent matters such as prosecution, patentability, validity and infringement opinion, in fields including computer architecture, computer software, stereoscopic imaging, cir-cuits and systems designs and computer peripheral systems.

Tai E International Patent & Law Office has about 280 staff in all affiliates, and has developed into a highly respected international IP law firm providing a full range of services. Tai E has been continually voted by overseas peers and clients as one of best IP law firms in Taiwan and earned a reputation by consistently ranking at the top in terms of issued patents and trademarks obtained for our national clients. Key IP practitioners include managing partner Fred C.T. Yen, partner and CEO Jerry C.Y. Lin and president Henry C.H. Guei. The firm was named Taiwan trademarks firm of the year at the 2020 Asia IP Awards.

TALENT Attorneys at Law in Taipei is helmed by Alan C.H. Chen, who es-tablished the firm with lawyers who previously formed the contentious and legal team at Rich IP & Co. Now an independent entity, TALENT focuses on patent con-tentious matters (litigation and transactions). Major patent litigation in Taiwan undertaken by the firm include the case regarding Nichia Corporation, in which it reversed the case by representing Everlight Electronics Co. For the Toshiba case with approximately US$66 million at stake, the firm represented the defen-dant and had the case reversed in the second instance at the IP Court. Other key practitioners at the firm include Kevin Ke, Klaudia Hsu and Jenny Huang.

TIPLO Attorneys-at-Law, also known as Taiwan International Patent & Law Office, was founded in 1965 by M.S. Lin and a group of professional legal and technical associates specializing in intellectual property rights. The firm is cur-rently staffed by 285 full-time members, many of whom are multilingual profes-sionals fluent in English, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and other languages, who staff the firm’s patent, trademark and legal departments. The firm is a leader in patent and trademark prosecution, invalidation and opposition proceedings, infringement assessment and validity appraisal, and is well-noted for its IP en- forcement prowess, particularly for infringement litigation and coordination of police raids. During director J.K. Lin’s 23-year tenure, he has set out to further streamline the hierarchy of the staff and adopted effective formulae leading to a significant quality improvement in the firm’s services.

Top Team International Patent & Trademark Office handles the full range of intellectual property services, with a team of highly experienced patent attor-neys, technical experts from a variety of fields and strong trademark and litiga-tion teams. The team stands out in portfolio management matters and is high-ly regarded for cross-border patent prosecution work. Henry C.W. Hong is the firm’s president; CEO Peter Hong comes highly recommended for IP portfolio planning and IP strategy work.

Taipei-based Tsai, Lee & Chen is particularly well-known for its work with high-tech patents. The firm has seen extensive growth in recent years, especially in its domestic patent department. The firm manages more than 30,000 patents and 18,000 trademarks worldwide and has established 1,300 professional net-works with global IP law firms and associates. Victor S.C. Lee, Thomas Q.T. Tsai, Crystal J. Chen and Candy K.Y. Chen are top IP practitioners.

Tsar & Tsai is a full-service law firm founded in 1965 by Ruchin Tsar and Paul C. Tsai. The firm has considerable experience and expertise on IP matters, including the protection of trade secrets. The firm represented a well-known chocolate manufacturer in a trademark opposition case and successfully obtained TIPO’s grant to revoke the opposed mark. Partner Jennifer Lin and Joyce Ho are key contacts for IP matters. The firm has offices in Taipei and Hsinchu.

The Union Patent Service Centre has offices in Taipei, Hong Kong and Tokyo, from which it specializes in handling patent and trademark applications in Taiwan. The firm is capable of cor-responding in multiple languages; the highest concentration of its clientele is from Japan, the United States and Europe. Kingson Lai is a principal and founder of the firm. Principal Jeffrey Hsu is also a lecturer at National Taipei University of Tech-nology and Shih Hsin University.

Global law firm White & Case represents some of Taiwan’s most famous companies in IP and related matters. It successfully represented the world’s largest custom-made chip manufacturer based in Taiwan against another international semiconductor maker in a multi-patent infringement and trade secret misappro-priation case, resulting in one of the largest settlements in ITC history.

The portfolio of trademarks handled by Winkler Partners includes 20 of the top 100 global brands. Head of IP Peter Dernbach served on the International Trademark Association board of directors from 2015-17. He also served as a do-main name dispute resolution panelist for the World Intellectual Property Orga-nization Arbitration and Mediation Center. Christine Chen heads the employment and immigration practice and is experienced in employment, IP and commercial disputes. Other leading practitioners include Gary Kuo, whose has managed trade-mark portfolios for some of the world’s top brands.

Wisdom International Patent & Law Office is one of Taiwan’s most prom-inent intellectual property law firms, which focuses on a wide range of economic sectors and technological domains, including biotechnology, chemistry, chemical engineering, and pharmaceutical sciences. Director George J.H. Huang, who is the first lawyer qualified to be a patent attorney in Taiwan and is an expert in chemis-try, is the key contact.

Most of the patent agents at Wood & Wu Patent and Trademark Office in Tai-pei were once patent examiners at the Taiwan Patent Office, giving them extensive experience with IP-related legal procedures and actions. The patent attorneys and agents at the firm engage primarily in work in the biochemical/chemical, mechan-ical/control and electronic/electrical sectors. President Justin Wu leads the team.

Founded in 1951, World Patent and Trademark Law Office (WPTO), has built long-term strategic collaborations with more than one hundred top law firms throughout the world using the “integrity” management philosophy. Its area of ex-pertise includes Computer Science and Information Engineering. Its key contact is Daniel Li, who is the chief senior counselor and a patent attorney.

Zoomlaw Attorneys-at-law is a full-service law firm with offices in Taipei and Hsinchu, as well as in Suzhou, China, featuring lawyers concentrating in the areas of intellectual property, cross-strait trade, international trade, environmen-tal protection and litigation. Managing partner Kuo-Hua Fan, who once served as the chief legal officer at Gigabyte Technology, a prominent Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer, was recognized as an Asia IP Top 50 IP Experts in Taiwan in both 2020 and 2021. A client who recommends the firm for its cross-strait and interna-tional work, calls Zoomlaw “very professional.”