Patent registration in Taiwan. Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. Taiwan’s export-oriented industrial economy is the 21st-largest in the world by nominal GDP, and 20th-largest by PPP measures, with major contributions from steel, machinery, electronics, and chemicals manufacturing. Taiwan is a developed country, ranking 15th in GDP per capita. It is ranked highly in terms of political and civil liberties, education, health care, and human development. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Taiwan.
Patent in Taiwan
According to Taiwan law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
There are 3 types of patents in Taiwan: Invention patent, utility model patent, and design patent.
An invention patent has a 20 years protection period, a utility model patent has 10 years and a design patent has 15 years.
To be patentable in Taiwan, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicability.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the subjects that are unpatentable in Taiwan are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Taiwan
The necessary documents for patent registration in Taiwan include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure for patent registration in Taiwan
To obtain a patent in Taiwan, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Taiwan.
Patent application in Taiwan undergoes formal and substantive examinations.
The request for substantive examination must be submitted by the applicant within 3 years of the filing date.
The novelty grace period in Taiwan is 12 months from the filing date.
The official grant fee for a patent in Taiwan should be paid within 3 months from the receiving date of the Notice of Allowance. Late submission of this fee is not possible and if missed, the patent application will be considered abandoned.
For invention patents, the validity period is 20 years from the filing date.
The first annuity is paid on the grant and then renew every year. Late payment for annuities is possible within a 6 months grace period after the deadline, along with a late payment surcharge.
You can see a list of Taiwan IP firms here.