09.27.2023
Summary of Accelerated Examination Program and Deferred Examination for Design Patent Applications
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Accelerated Examination Program (AEP)
I. Elegible applications
The AEP is applicable to Taiwanese design patent applications once the TIPO has notified the applicant that an application is about to enter substantive examination or re-examination, and where one of the following conditions is met:
Condition 1. Third party commercial exploitation.
Condition 2. Design has been recognized by prestigious international or national design awards. The TIPO recognizes the following design awards as prestigious: Taiwan's Golden Pin Design Award, Germany's iF Design Award, Germany's Red Dot Design Award, Japan's Good Design Award, and the United States' International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).
Condition 3. Applications from new startup enterprises. The “startup company” referred to herein is defined as a company established less than eight years before the filing date (or priority date) of the application. Each startup company can file at most three requests per year for accelerated examination under Condition 3.
II. Required documents
Where a request for accelerated examination is made in conformity with the provisions of the AEP, an application form must be submitted electronically along with the following documents that are listed according to the foregoing three conditions:
Condition 1:
To apply for accelerated examination under Condition 1, the applicant should submit evidence of the third party’s commercial exploitation, such as product catalogs, newspapers or magazines. Also, the applicant should specify the information of the third party, the manner of the exploitation, and the start time of the exploitation.
Condition 2:
To apply for accelerated examination under Condition 2, the certificate of commendation and evidence of the corresponding design should be filed.
Condition 3:
For this purpose, evidence of the establishment date of the company is needed. Where the original of the evidence is not available, an affidavit should be provided.
III. Effects
In principle, TIPO will render examination results within two months at the latest after the application form and necessary documents are submitted in full.
IV. Your instructions
Should filing a request for accelerated examination be beneficial for the Taiwanese design patent application, and one of the three conditions is met, please instruct us to file the request by providing us with the required documents.
Deferred Examination
To accommodate the commercialization timelines for foreign designs in Taiwan, the TIPO has also amended the regulations for the deferred examination period for design patents. Regardless of whether priority rights are claimed, the deferred examination period will now uniformly be set within one year from the application date.
Under one of the following conditions, the deferred examination shall not be applied for a design patent application:
(1) The TIPO has rendered an Examination Report or Examination Decision.
(2) A request for division has been filed for the design patent application.
(3) An AEP request has been filed for the design patent application.
The request for deferred examination shall be filed when the design patent application is filed or within one year after the filing date of the design patent application. Furthermore, the date on which the substantive examination of the design patent application should be resumed must be specified when requesting deferred examination.
I. Elegible applications
The AEP is applicable to Taiwanese design patent applications once the TIPO has notified the applicant that an application is about to enter substantive examination or re-examination, and where one of the following conditions is met:
Condition 1. Third party commercial exploitation.
Condition 2. Design has been recognized by prestigious international or national design awards. The TIPO recognizes the following design awards as prestigious: Taiwan's Golden Pin Design Award, Germany's iF Design Award, Germany's Red Dot Design Award, Japan's Good Design Award, and the United States' International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).
Condition 3. Applications from new startup enterprises. The “startup company” referred to herein is defined as a company established less than eight years before the filing date (or priority date) of the application. Each startup company can file at most three requests per year for accelerated examination under Condition 3.
II. Required documents
Where a request for accelerated examination is made in conformity with the provisions of the AEP, an application form must be submitted electronically along with the following documents that are listed according to the foregoing three conditions:
Condition 1:
To apply for accelerated examination under Condition 1, the applicant should submit evidence of the third party’s commercial exploitation, such as product catalogs, newspapers or magazines. Also, the applicant should specify the information of the third party, the manner of the exploitation, and the start time of the exploitation.
Condition 2:
To apply for accelerated examination under Condition 2, the certificate of commendation and evidence of the corresponding design should be filed.
Condition 3:
For this purpose, evidence of the establishment date of the company is needed. Where the original of the evidence is not available, an affidavit should be provided.
III. Effects
In principle, TIPO will render examination results within two months at the latest after the application form and necessary documents are submitted in full.
IV. Your instructions
Should filing a request for accelerated examination be beneficial for the Taiwanese design patent application, and one of the three conditions is met, please instruct us to file the request by providing us with the required documents.
Deferred Examination
To accommodate the commercialization timelines for foreign designs in Taiwan, the TIPO has also amended the regulations for the deferred examination period for design patents. Regardless of whether priority rights are claimed, the deferred examination period will now uniformly be set within one year from the application date.
Under one of the following conditions, the deferred examination shall not be applied for a design patent application:
(1) The TIPO has rendered an Examination Report or Examination Decision.
(2) A request for division has been filed for the design patent application.
(3) An AEP request has been filed for the design patent application.
The request for deferred examination shall be filed when the design patent application is filed or within one year after the filing date of the design patent application. Furthermore, the date on which the substantive examination of the design patent application should be resumed must be specified when requesting deferred examination.
