Pursuant to Rule 39 of the Implementing Rules of Taiwan Patent Act effective as from January 1, 2013, any person can submit his observations against the patentability of an invention patent application during the examination proceedings.
In order to increase the correctness and efficiency of examination, Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) promulgated the above new rule by referring to the related enforcement rules in both Japan and China.
It is to be noted that the third party’s submission of observations shall be filed after an invention patent application has been published and before a decision is made thereon. A written application asserting the invention which does not meet the patent requirements should be filed by stating the name and address of the person who submits the observations together with the statement of reasons, prior art references, the official examination materials from foreign patent office, etc.
Also, per the Personal Data Protection Act promulgated on October 1, 2012 in Taiwan, the person who provides the observations can mark a request in the application to have his personal data and/or the information of observations kept confidential. If such request is not made in the application when submitting the observations, TIPO shall inform the patent applicant of said application, which will also be open to the public, in addition that they will be kept as examination reference material.
Further, TIPO will not be obligated to make any reply on the information of observations provided by a third party as it is merely served as a reference for patent application.
