Whereas for invention patent application, substantive examination will be made by request. In other words, a request for substantive examination of an invention patent application must be filed within three years starting from the application date, while TIPO will conduct examination automatically on a design patent application.
If necessary, one time extension of term for the response may be requested with TIPO. The calculation method of the said designated deadline for OA response and extension of term thereof are elaborated as below:
- If the patent applicant is residing in a foreign country, the above said designated deadline for OA response of invention/design application is three months, and if an extension of time is requested, the total term for OA response will be basically not more than six months; while if the patent applicant is residing in Taiwan, the above said designated deadline for OA response is two months, and if an extension of time is requested, the total term for OA response is basically not more than four months.
- The calculation of the above said designated deadline or extension of time starts from the next day following the date receiving the TIPO’s Examination Report. For example, if TIPO issued an Examination Report dated June 10, 2014 for an invention patent application to a domestic applicant, and if the said letter was served on June 12, 2014 with a designated response term of two months, then the deadline for the applicant to respond to TIPO will be August 12, 2014. While if a request for extension of time is filed then the deadline could be extended to October 12, 2014 (in case that October 12 is a national holiday, the deadline can be further extended to the next working day of October 13).
