The Board of Foreign Trade (BOFT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEOA) has established a monitoring system to assist trademark owners in preventing the export of counterfeit goods. Under this system, BOFT accepts applications to record trademarks and enters them into a computer database which is provided to every Customs Service Office to facilitate the inspection of goods bearing trademarks. Applications to record trademarks with BOFT can be filed by the owner of a trademark registered in Taiwan as well as by the owner of a trademark registered in another country, provided the latter has filed an application for the trademark in Taiwan or can prove that the trademark is well-known.

If the Customs Office determines that a recorded trademark has been infringed, it can take ex officio action, such as deny customs clearance of the infringing goods, turn the matter over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution and/or notify the trademark owner or his trademark agent of the infringement.

In order to facilitate the operation of this system, the MEOA has amended the rules governing the export of goods and now requires that an exporter indicate in the export application the trademark, if any, used on the goods. If there is a discrepancy between the trademark indicated in the export application and the mark used on the goods, the Customs Office may require the exporter to prove that he has been authorized or licensed to use such trademark or that the use does not infringe the trademark of a third party.

Clients are advised, in the circumstances, to consider recording their trademarks to take advantage of the new system.