The Taiwan Patent Act Amendment was approved and published in May 2019. The Executive Yuan (Cabinet) then announced the enforcement date of revised Taiwan Patent Act to be November 1, 2019. The Enforcement Rules of Patent Act, Examination Guidelines, and the related patent forms and fees, have also been amended to be implemented on the same day. The revised Patent Act has partial provisions in connection with the changes of action period or term as outlined below.
| Item | Action period or term | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| Filing of Divisional application after an invention or a utility model patent application has been notified of acceptance | Within 3 months upon receipt of Notice of Acceptance | Not applicable for a design application after receiving a notice of acceptance |
| Filing of correction for specification, claims or drawings after the grant of utility model patent | A correction can be filed only during the examination period if an invalidation has been filed against the patent, or a technical report has been filed, or when the patent is pending in court proceedings | Formality examination is conducted for a utility model application, but substantial examination will be adopted for a correction request after the grant of patent |
| Filing of correction for specification, claims or drawings after the grant of patent at the examination stage of patent invalidation (for invention, utility model and design) | For any patent of which an invalidation has been filed, the patentee can file a correction only within the period after TIPO notifies the submission of counterstatement (or supplementary ounterstatement, or response), or when the patent is pending in court proceedings | If necessary, TIPO may notify the invalidation demandant to make a reply statement or the patentee to make a supplementary counterstatement or response, yet TIPO may carry out the examination without notice to the parties concerned for further action if the supplement is only to delay the examination or there are clear and convincing fact with evidence |
| Filing of supplementary reasons or evidences for patent invalidation | Within 3 months by the invalidation demandant (and then TIPO will notify the patentee to file a counterstatement within one month, extensible upon request) | Late filing of supplementary reasons or evidences beyond the period will not be examined |
| Protection term for design patent right | 15 years (from the filing date of a design application) | The extended term is applicable for all valid design patents which still exist when the revised Patent Act is enforced on November 1, 2019. |
For patent fees after November 1, 2019, there is only a minor change on the correction fee of utility model patent which is set to be NT$2000 (rather than NT$1000 or NT$2000 depending on the correction is to be conducted by formality or substantial examination). Further, the annuity fee is set to be NT$3000 each year from 13th to 15th year of a design patent after the extension of patent term from 12 years to 15 years. Namely, the regular official fee for a design patent is NT$800 each year for 1st to 3rd annuity, NT$1200 each year for 4th to 6th annuity, and NT$3000 each year for 7th to 15th annuity.
