Sean Liu
The Fair Trade Commission amended Paragraph 6 of the Principles of the Fair Trade Commission for Handling Warning Letters Concerning Copyright, Trademark Right or Patent Right Infringement by Enterprises (hereinafter, the “Principles”) via the Kong-Fa-1041561063 Directive of December 24, 2015, and the amendment came into effect on the day of their promulgation.
Paragraph 6 of the Principles was amended to expand the application of the Principles so that they cover not only unfair competition but also competition restrictions. The provision (pertaining to circumstances of infringement by competing enterprises in the same production and distribution stage) is amended as follows: “The Principles shall also apply to warning letters inappropriately issued by enterprises to allege that an enterprise not competing in the same production and distribution stage has infringed the copyright, trademark right or patent right of the enterprise issuing such letters to the extent of causing competition restrictions or unfair competition.”