The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) announced on January 10, 2008 that effective immediately, the time-limits for TIPO to examine and process patent applications are prescribed and published as shown in the following table.
Time-Limits for Processing Patent Applications
| No. | Items | Average Time Limits for Issuance of First Office Action | Processing Periods |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primary Examination of Invention Patent Application: | ||
| 1-1 Nuclear Engineering | 15 months | 18 months | |
| 1-2 Daily Necessities, Civil Engineering and Building | 18 months | 24 months | |
| 1-3 General Mechanical Engineering, Transporting, Shaping | 21 months | 24 months | |
| 1-4 Communication | 21 months | 24 months | |
| 1-5 Measuring, Optics and Storage | 18 months | 27 months | |
| 1-6 Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Metallurgy, Metal Surface Treatment, Electroplating | 21 months | 27 months | |
| 1-7 Textiles and Flexible Materials not otherwise provided for, Papermaking and Paper Product Treatment | 21 months | 27 months | |
| 1-8 Information | 21 months | 27 months | |
| 1-9 Semiconductors | 21 months | 27 months | |
| 1-10 Electric Power, Basic Electronic/Electric Elements | 21 months | 27 months | |
| 1-11 E-commerce | 21 months | 27 months | |
| 1-12 Photoelectric and Liquid Crystal | 21 months | 30 months | |
| 1-13 Biotechnology, Medicines, Agrichemical, Foods | 28 months | 36 months | |
| 2 | Preferential Examination on an Invention Patent Application | 10 months | |
| 3 | Re-examination of Electrical and Chemical Engineering Cases | 32 months | 36 months |
| 4 | Re-examination of Mechanical Engineering and Daily Necessities Cases | 8 months | 12 months |
| 5 | Compulsory Licensing of Invention Patent Right | 24 months | |
| 6 | Annulment of Compulsory Licensing of Invention Patent Right | 18 months | |
| 7 | Decision on Compensation for Compulsory Licensing of Invention Patent Right | 6 months | |
| 8 | Application for Extension of Term for Invention Patent Rights | 12 months | |
| 9 | Utility Model Patent Application | 4 months | 6 months |
| 10 | Technical Evaluation Report for Utility Model Patent | 12 months | |
| 11 | Technical Evaluation Report for Utility Model Patent | 6 months | |
| (When the Utility Model Patent Is Commercially Practiced by a Third Party) | |||
| 12 | Primary Examination of Design Application (including Associated Design Application) | 10 months | 12 months |
| 13 | Re-examination of Design Application (including Associated Design Application) | 6 months | 10 months |
| 14 | Invalidation Case | 15 months | |
| 15 | Preferential Examination on an Invalidation Case | 6 months | |
| 16 | Post-grant Amendment for Specification, Claims, Drawings | 6 months | |
| 17 | Recordation of Change in Patent Right (including Assignment, Licensing, Pledging, Trust, etc.) | 20 days | |
| 18 | Recordation of Alteration of Issued Patent Particulars | 20 days | |
| 19 | Issuance of English Certificate | 20 days | |
| 20 | Issuance of Patent Attorney Certificate(Urgent Case) | 1 day | |
| 21 | Issuance of Patent Attorney Certificate(General Case) | 20 days | |
| 22 | Issuance of Priority Document(Urgent Case) | 1 day | |
| 23 | Issuance of Priority Document(General Case) | 20 days |
Remark: The processing time-limits commence from the day upon receipt of the documents submitted by the applicants, but excluding the periods of notifying the applicants to file the amendments, corrections, responses and arguments or other periods which are deemed as justified to defer the examinations.
