Revised Patent Fees in Taiwan will officially take effect January 2010
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) published a notice on December 8, 2009 that starting from January 1, 2010, a new rule introducing a set of revised patent fees will take effect. The revisions are summarized as below.
- Under the existing Rules of Patent Fees, an applicant should pay an official fee of NT$8000 (about US$258) for filing a request of substantive examination on each invention patent application with specification and drawings not exceeding 50 pages, regardless the number of claims. Per the new Rules, said official fee of NT$8000 will be reduced to NT$7000 (about US$226) for specification and drawings not exceeding 50 pages but the total number of claims shall be limited to within ten claims, with a surcharge fee of NT$800 (about US$26) for each additional claim, and if the specification and drawings exceeds 50 pages in total, a surcharge of NT$500 (about US$16) for each additional 50 pages.
- The new patent annuity fees will become lower, and fees will vary depending on the types of patent. Please see the following table.
| Annuity | Current Annuities (applicable to all types of patents) | 2010 (Invention) | 2010 (Utility Model) | 2010 (Design) | Reduced amount for natural person or small / medium enterprises per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ~3rd year (each year) | 2500 (about US$78) | NT$ 2500 (about US$78) | 2500 (about US$78) | 2500 (about US$78) | -NT$800 |
| 4th ~ 6th year (each year) | 5000 (about US$156) | 5000 (about US$156) | 4000 (about US$125) | 3500 (about US$110) | -NT$1,200 |
| 7th ~9th year (each year) | 9000 (about US$281) | 8000 (about US$250) | 8000 (about US$250) | 5000 (about US$156) | - |
| 10th year onward (each year) | 18000 (about US$563) | 16000 (about US$500) | 8000 (about US$250) | 5000 (about US$156) | - |
| Patent Term | 20 years from application date | 10 years from application date | 12 years from application date |
- For pending invention patent application which has not yet received its first official action, the Applicant may withdraw the patent application and apply for a refund on the official fee paid for substantive examination or re-examination.
