Taiwan patent dispute cases generally include invalidation, appeal and administrative suit (patent opposition system was abolished in 2003). The following statistics are mainly based on the 2016 annual report from Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) for patent dispute cases with decisions made with in the past ten years. For rejection decisions made by TIPO, appeals were filed with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), followed by administrative suits initiated to Intellectual Property Court (IP Court).
Patent Invalidation
| Year | Sustained | Partial Sustained | Rejected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 574 | 0 | 705 |
| 2008 | 496 | 0 | 596 |
| 2009 | 694 | 0 | 553 |
| 2010 | 503 | 0 | 413 |
| 2011 | 469 | 0 | 442 |
| 2012 | 462 | 0 | 421 |
| 2013 | 425 | 114 | 312 |
| 2014 | 360 | 135 | 309 |
| 2015 | 294 | 99 | 245 |
| 2016 | 277 | 100 | 300 |
Source：Taiwan Intellectual Property Office
Starting on January 1, 2013, the invalidation of a granted patent could be initiated against all or partial claims so that the invalidation decision will be made on the cancellation of all or partial claims or to reject the invalidation as initiated.
Patent Appeal
| Year | Initiated | Original decision revoked | Appeal Rejected | Others | Other concluded | Successful Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 685 | 45 | 651 | 0 | 29 | 6.21% |
| 2008 | 531 | 57 | 512 | 0 | 14 | 9.78% |
| 2009 | 508 | 46 | 410 | 0 | 16 | 9.75% |
| 2010 | 421 | 39 | 465 | 0 | 15 | 7.51% |
| 2011 | 378 | 28 | 342 | 0 | 8 | 7.41% |
| 2012 | 386 | 29 | 341 | 0 | 8 | 7.67% |
| 2013 | 444 | 37 | 367 | 2 | 8 | 9.42% |
| 2014 | 426 | 21 | 390 | 1 | 7 | 5.25% |
| 2015 | 367 | 15 | 386 | 4 | 6 | 4.62% |
| 2016 | 313 | 14 | 296 | 2 | 6 | 5.03% |
Source：Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)
Note：
1) “Appeal Rejected” includes rejection (original decision sustained) and dismissal procedurally.
2) “Others” include partial rejected or cancelled cases.
3) “Other concluded” refers to withdrawn, transfer of jurisdiction, cases combined etc.
Patent Administrative Suit
| Year | Initiated | Withdrawn | Plaintiff Won | Plaintiff Lost | Partly Sustained | Dismissal Ruling | Settlement | Others | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008* | 93 | 3 | 6 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 40 |
| 2009 | 143 | 4 | 20 | 90 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 135 |
| 2010 | 183 | 5 | 42 | 109 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 173 |
| 2011 | 135 | 5 | 31 | 102 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 161 |
| 2012 | 126 | 5 | 14 | 73 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 105 |
| 2013 | 133 | 8 | 16 | 111 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 148 |
| 2014 | 122 | 6 | 9 | 86 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 108 |
| 2015 | 127 | 3 | 18 | 87 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 128 |
| 2016 | 104 | 18 | 17 | 57 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 107 |
*From July to December of 2008 Source: Intellectual Property Court (established on July 1, 2008)
Note: The above decisions include cases in which the MOEA is the defendant and its appeal decisions were cancelled.
