09.16.2019
Hearings Program for Patent Invalidation Cases1 (Part 2)
SHARE
BY MENG-HSUEH KU
9. Proceeding of Hearing Procedure
9.1 The hearing shall be proceeded at this Office or a designated place in accordance with the date specified in the announcement.
9.2 Except for the examiner, the concerned party or his/her agents and the necessary witnesses and expert witnesses, only an interested party who applied in advance and are then permitted or the general public as a permitted audience may attend the hearing.
If the concerned party in the preceding paragraph is a juristic person, his/her employee may be appointed to attend the hearing; if his/her is a agent, another person having professional knowledge of the invalidation case may be appointed to attend the hearing.
9.3 The hearing procedure is in principle open to the public, and the hearing officer may determine the entire or a part of the hearing procedure shall not be open to the public if an application for a closed hearing has been filed by a concerned party before the hearing, or if making the relevant documents and evidence stated by a concerned party in the hearing procedure open to the public may cause serious damage to his/her interest.
9.4 Before the hearing begins, the identity documents of the persons attending the hearing shall be inspected and their qualification of attendance shall be confirmed. Persons who attend the hearing shall show their identity documents for inspection in a positive manner; for those who fail to present and cannot make a correction in time, the hearing officer may deny their attendance of the hearing and such situation shall be stated in the hearing record.
9.5 During the proceeding of the hearing, when the hearing is proceeded by more than 3 examiners in a collegial manner, all of the examiners should attend the hearing.
9.6 After the hearing officer announces the beginning of the hearing, the hearing procedure proceeds with determining the qualification of the attending persons and the presence of the matters of statutory recusal; if no opposition is made by either party, the description of the summary of the hearing, the announcement of the scheduled statements and the order of mutual inquiry and other attention matters shall be proceeded.
9.7 If a concerned party considers that any actions made taken by the hearing officer in the hearing procedure are illegal or improper, an opposition may be made promptly to the hearing officer during the hearing procedure. The original action shall be revoked if the hearing officer considers the opposition justified, and the opposition shall be rejected if the hearing officer considers it groundless.
9.8 The hearing officer briefly describes the condition of the case and checks the evidence submitted by a concerned party and proceeds with the determination of the issues.
9.9 The relevant documents submitted by a concerned party in accordance with Point 4 shall be limited to the supplement or the existing data or the statement of the hearing, and shall be submitted in writing 10 days before the date of the hearing along and provided the opposite party.
9.10 When a concerned party proceeds with the mutual inquiry, the consent of the hearing officer is required before raising questions.
9.11 During the hearing procedure, if the petitioner is willing to withdraw the invalidation, the hearing officer may suspend the hearing and act in accordance with the requirements of Point 10 Suspension of Hearing Procedure of this Program.
9.12 If the hearing officer considers that the concerned party has proceeded with sufficient mutual inquiry, the end of the hearing shall be announced after the concerned party makes a final statement; if the mutual inquiry is not sufficiently proceeded, the date and place of a further hearing shall be decided before the end of the date of the hearing.
9.13 During the hearing procedure, a concerned party may waive parts of the issues and causes. The waived issues or causes shall be stated in the hearing record and shall not be examined.
9.14 When a concerned party asks the hearing officer to explain the issues or procedure of the case, the hearing officer may make a brief explanation; but the concerned party cannot ask the hearing officer to reveal the evaluation of evidence through inner conviction as to the substance of the case.
9.15 In accordance with the requirements of Article 109 of the Administrative Procedure Act, the hearing officer shall direct the concerned party to the administrative remedy procedure concerning the exempt of an appeal procedure and a direct filing of an administrative litigation if dissatisfied with an administrative decision made based on the hearing.
10. Suspension of Hearing Procedure
10.1 Cause for Suspending Hearing procedure
If the petitioner is willing to withdraw the invalidation or submits facts that substantially influence the determined result of the disputed invalidation case, the hearing officer may suspend the hearing procedure ex officio or upon application.
10.2 When the hearing officer makes a decision to suspend the hearing, the cause for the suspension shall be stated in the hearing record.
10.3 The requirements of Article 109 of the Administrative Procedure Act are not applicable to an invalidation decision made due to the suspension of the hearing procedure.
11. Maintenance of Hearing Order
(1) During the hearing, the attending persons and audience shall follow the instructions of the hearing officer.
(2) During the hearing, smoking or eating is prohibited, and electronic devices should be turned off or muted.
(3) Applause or uproar are not permitted in response to the statement of a speaker.
(4) No interference or challenge is permitted not be made during the statement.
(5) Statement shall be made with respect to the relevant matters of the case, and no personal attacks are permitted.
(6) During the hearing, the attending persons and audience shall not make audio or video recordings or take pictures, unless agreed by the hearing officer.
(7) Any behavior that is harmful to the order or improper is not permitted during the hearing.
12. Record of Hearing
12.1 Hearing and preliminary hearing shall be made by the record officer as a hearing record case file. The aforesaid record shall specify the following matters:
(1) Cause.
(2) Names of attending concerned party and interested party, witness and expert witness.
(3) Date and place of hearing.
(4) Summary of statements or questions made and documents and evidence submitted by a concerned party, interested party, witness and expert witness.
(5) During the hearing procedure, a concerned party states the cause of the opposition and the actions taken by the hearing office in response to the opposition.
(6) Summary of inquiry matters and respondent's reply.
12.2 Hearing records may be made by this Office with the assistance of audio or video recording.
12.3 The hearing record shall be completed on site, and signed or sealed by the examiner, concerned party, interested party, witness and expert witness, and an opposition shall be made immediately if any question about the statement of the hearing record is raised. Correction or supplement shall be allowed if the hearing officer considers the opposition justified, and the opposition shall be noted if the hearing officer considers it groundless
12.4 The cause why a concerned party, interested party, witness or expert witness refuses to sign or seal shall be noted.
13. Audience of General Public
13.1 Members of the general public may make an application for an audience pass to this Office within 10 days before the date of the hearing.
13.2 Attendance of the aforesaid general public will be permitted in the order of application and are limited to the arranged audience seats.
14. Language of Hearing
During the hearing, Mandarin Chinese shall be used; if other languages are intended to be used for making statements, an application for a translator may be submitted to this Office.
1 Amendments to Patent Invalidation Case Hearing Program implemented on August 5, 2019
https://www1.tipo.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=716312&ctNode=7860&mp=1
9. Proceeding of Hearing Procedure
9.1 The hearing shall be proceeded at this Office or a designated place in accordance with the date specified in the announcement.
9.2 Except for the examiner, the concerned party or his/her agents and the necessary witnesses and expert witnesses, only an interested party who applied in advance and are then permitted or the general public as a permitted audience may attend the hearing.
If the concerned party in the preceding paragraph is a juristic person, his/her employee may be appointed to attend the hearing; if his/her is a agent, another person having professional knowledge of the invalidation case may be appointed to attend the hearing.
9.3 The hearing procedure is in principle open to the public, and the hearing officer may determine the entire or a part of the hearing procedure shall not be open to the public if an application for a closed hearing has been filed by a concerned party before the hearing, or if making the relevant documents and evidence stated by a concerned party in the hearing procedure open to the public may cause serious damage to his/her interest.
9.4 Before the hearing begins, the identity documents of the persons attending the hearing shall be inspected and their qualification of attendance shall be confirmed. Persons who attend the hearing shall show their identity documents for inspection in a positive manner; for those who fail to present and cannot make a correction in time, the hearing officer may deny their attendance of the hearing and such situation shall be stated in the hearing record.
9.5 During the proceeding of the hearing, when the hearing is proceeded by more than 3 examiners in a collegial manner, all of the examiners should attend the hearing.
9.6 After the hearing officer announces the beginning of the hearing, the hearing procedure proceeds with determining the qualification of the attending persons and the presence of the matters of statutory recusal; if no opposition is made by either party, the description of the summary of the hearing, the announcement of the scheduled statements and the order of mutual inquiry and other attention matters shall be proceeded.
9.7 If a concerned party considers that any actions made taken by the hearing officer in the hearing procedure are illegal or improper, an opposition may be made promptly to the hearing officer during the hearing procedure. The original action shall be revoked if the hearing officer considers the opposition justified, and the opposition shall be rejected if the hearing officer considers it groundless.
9.8 The hearing officer briefly describes the condition of the case and checks the evidence submitted by a concerned party and proceeds with the determination of the issues.
9.9 The relevant documents submitted by a concerned party in accordance with Point 4 shall be limited to the supplement or the existing data or the statement of the hearing, and shall be submitted in writing 10 days before the date of the hearing along and provided the opposite party.
9.10 When a concerned party proceeds with the mutual inquiry, the consent of the hearing officer is required before raising questions.
9.11 During the hearing procedure, if the petitioner is willing to withdraw the invalidation, the hearing officer may suspend the hearing and act in accordance with the requirements of Point 10 Suspension of Hearing Procedure of this Program.
9.12 If the hearing officer considers that the concerned party has proceeded with sufficient mutual inquiry, the end of the hearing shall be announced after the concerned party makes a final statement; if the mutual inquiry is not sufficiently proceeded, the date and place of a further hearing shall be decided before the end of the date of the hearing.
9.13 During the hearing procedure, a concerned party may waive parts of the issues and causes. The waived issues or causes shall be stated in the hearing record and shall not be examined.
9.14 When a concerned party asks the hearing officer to explain the issues or procedure of the case, the hearing officer may make a brief explanation; but the concerned party cannot ask the hearing officer to reveal the evaluation of evidence through inner conviction as to the substance of the case.
9.15 In accordance with the requirements of Article 109 of the Administrative Procedure Act, the hearing officer shall direct the concerned party to the administrative remedy procedure concerning the exempt of an appeal procedure and a direct filing of an administrative litigation if dissatisfied with an administrative decision made based on the hearing.
10. Suspension of Hearing Procedure
10.1 Cause for Suspending Hearing procedure
If the petitioner is willing to withdraw the invalidation or submits facts that substantially influence the determined result of the disputed invalidation case, the hearing officer may suspend the hearing procedure ex officio or upon application.
10.2 When the hearing officer makes a decision to suspend the hearing, the cause for the suspension shall be stated in the hearing record.
10.3 The requirements of Article 109 of the Administrative Procedure Act are not applicable to an invalidation decision made due to the suspension of the hearing procedure.
11. Maintenance of Hearing Order
(1) During the hearing, the attending persons and audience shall follow the instructions of the hearing officer.
(2) During the hearing, smoking or eating is prohibited, and electronic devices should be turned off or muted.
(3) Applause or uproar are not permitted in response to the statement of a speaker.
(4) No interference or challenge is permitted not be made during the statement.
(5) Statement shall be made with respect to the relevant matters of the case, and no personal attacks are permitted.
(6) During the hearing, the attending persons and audience shall not make audio or video recordings or take pictures, unless agreed by the hearing officer.
(7) Any behavior that is harmful to the order or improper is not permitted during the hearing.
12. Record of Hearing
12.1 Hearing and preliminary hearing shall be made by the record officer as a hearing record case file. The aforesaid record shall specify the following matters:
(1) Cause.
(2) Names of attending concerned party and interested party, witness and expert witness.
(3) Date and place of hearing.
(4) Summary of statements or questions made and documents and evidence submitted by a concerned party, interested party, witness and expert witness.
(5) During the hearing procedure, a concerned party states the cause of the opposition and the actions taken by the hearing office in response to the opposition.
(6) Summary of inquiry matters and respondent's reply.
12.2 Hearing records may be made by this Office with the assistance of audio or video recording.
12.3 The hearing record shall be completed on site, and signed or sealed by the examiner, concerned party, interested party, witness and expert witness, and an opposition shall be made immediately if any question about the statement of the hearing record is raised. Correction or supplement shall be allowed if the hearing officer considers the opposition justified, and the opposition shall be noted if the hearing officer considers it groundless
12.4 The cause why a concerned party, interested party, witness or expert witness refuses to sign or seal shall be noted.
13. Audience of General Public
13.1 Members of the general public may make an application for an audience pass to this Office within 10 days before the date of the hearing.
13.2 Attendance of the aforesaid general public will be permitted in the order of application and are limited to the arranged audience seats.
14. Language of Hearing
During the hearing, Mandarin Chinese shall be used; if other languages are intended to be used for making statements, an application for a translator may be submitted to this Office.
1 Amendments to Patent Invalidation Case Hearing Program implemented on August 5, 2019
https://www1.tipo.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=716312&ctNode=7860&mp=1
