Taiwan’s legislature has tightened laws on copyright, trademarks and patents in a bid to help the country join the CPTPP free trade bloc. Opposition lawmaker Chiu Chen-yuan has called the amendments passed on Friday “highly significant”. He says the changes are meant to show the world Taiwan is determined to join the trade agreement.
The CPTPP is one of the world’s largest free trade zones by GDP. Its 11 members include Japan, Canada and Australia, among others.
Taiwan applied to enter the agreement in September last year, just days after China submitted its own application.
In preparation for potential membership, Taiwan is strengthening its intellectual property laws. Under the changes made on Friday, people violating trademark laws will be criminally liable regardless of whether they broke the law knowingly.
China, largely seen as Taiwan’s direct competitor for membership in the pact, has faced repeated accusations of intellectual property theft by numerous international corporations.