The author published some notes in July 2015 regarding the five-year statistical data for cases adjudicated by the IP Court from its establishment in July 2008 to June 2013. The data reflected an extremely low success rate (less than 15%) for patent owners in infringement litigations, and a proportionally much higher success rate (about 60%) for validity defense challenges.
After one year, apart from the low success rate for patent owners in infringement litigations and the higher rate for validity defense challenges that have sparked concern, other issues often discussed are whether the IP Court has enough professionals to examine the technical issues involved in patent infringement litigations and whether patent owners can be awarded sufficient compensation for damages and losses suffered due to infringement.
On May 6 this year, Taiwan's IP Court released a statement in response. According to the IP Court, although there are only thirteen technical examination officers as technical advisors in the IP Court assisting judges in dealing with technical issues, the fields in which they are experts are diverse, including electrical and electronic engineering, optoelectronics, information technology, chemical engineering, biopharmaceuticals, machinery, civil engineering, materials, designing, and the like. Further, an expert roster which includes around 100 consultants active in different technical fields has been established by the Judicial Yuan. These consultants may render their assistance to the IP Court judges whenever needs arise. The IP Court also regularly holds seminars for patent judges and technical advisors to share and update the state of the art technology that they need in the test of the inventiveness of inventions. With regard to the success rate for validity defense challenges, it was about 50% in 2015, which dropped from 60% in 2013 and was lower than the average success rate (about 60%) for revocation of patents in full or in part by the IP Office in 2015 in Taiwan. Lastly, the top three compensations for damages awarded by the IP Court are US$60 million, US$10 million, and US$5 million, respectively, not to mention that cases with awarded compensatory damages amounting to over US$300,000 take up 8.33% of all the patent infringement litigations in favor of patent owners.
It is worth observing whether there will be future statistical data giving support to the IP Court’s statement.