Accelerated Examination Program (AEP) for invention patent application in Taiwan was implemented in 2010. Since then, Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has published the quarter and annual AEP statistics every year. The following are AEP statistics for the year of 2018.
| 2018AEP filings | Base 1 | Base 2 | Base 3 | Base 4 | Total (Total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEP cases filed by domestic applicants | 27 | 3 | 111 | 34 | 175 (51%) |
| AEP cases filed by foreign applicants | 148 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 167 (49%) |
| Subtotal (percentage) | 175 (51.16%) | 10 (2.92%) | 120 (35.08%) | 37 (10.81%) | 342 (100%) |
| Average time for issuing first examination opinion | 42.1 days (1.41 months) | 51.3 days (1.71months) | 79.4 days (2.65 months) | 61.1 days (2.04 months) |
Remarks:
- Base 1 – for invention that has a corresponding foreign patent application allowed after the substantive examination of a foreign patent office
- Base 2 – for invention that has a corresponding foreign application pending before USPTO, JPO or EPO, but official action and search report have been issued
- Base 3 – for invention required for commercial practice
- Base 4 – for invention related to green technologies
As can be seen from the above table, the percentages of domestic and foreign applicants who filed AEP cases in 2018 were about the same. However the domestic applicants filed AEP cases mostly due to commercial practice, while the foreign applicants filed AEP cases mostly on patent applications allowed after substantive examination in the foreign countries. Although the total number of AEP cases was decreased slightly in 2018 when compared to 2017, the AEP processing time by TIPO became faster in 2018. For AEP cases filed in 2017, the processing period was 71.1 days, 79.4 days, 129.7 days and 97.2 days for Base 1 to 4, respectively. Nonetheless, the processing periods in 2017 and 2018 were much shorter than the standard time as set by TIPO on AEP cases to issue a first examination opinion at 6 months for Base 1 and 2, and 9 months for Base 3 and 4, respectively. Accordingly, the applicant can obtain patent protection for an invention more quickly by filing an AEP request if the requirements have been met.
