After the “Positive Patent Examination Pilot Program for Startup Companies” came into effect on January 5, 2021, in order to make the program more comprehensive, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) further adjusted certain regulations of the Pilot Program. Changes include that the monthly maximum number of patent applications accepted by the TIPO will be six, and the number of patent applications for each startup company based on the Pilot Program in the same year will be limited to five. These changes will be implemented for a trial period of one year starting from January 1, 2022. The following is an excerpt from the relevant information published by the TIPO.
1. Eligible applicants:
A request for the Pilot Program should be filed by a startup company, which must be the original and current applicant for the invention patent application to be examined under the Pilot Program.
As defined in the Pilot Program, a “startup company” is a company that has been organized and incorporated for less than five years from the date of registration of the company to the filing date of the patent application. When a priority is validly claimed, the filing date of the patent application is replaced with the priority date of the patent application.
If the applicant for the patent application is a foreign company, a certificate of the date of registration of the foreign company and a Chinese translation thereof shall be provided when the request for the Pilot Program is filed. If the certificate is not the original, an affidavit shall be provided.
2. Eligible applications and prerequisites for participation in the Pilot Program:
Only an applicant who has appointed an attorney in Taiwan when applying for an invention patent application with the TIPO can file a request for the Pilot Program. After receiving an Official Notice of Entering into Substantive Examination from the TIPO and before receiving a first examination report, the applicant may request the Pilot Program by submitting the applicant’s name and the date of registration of the company according to the electronic filing regulations prescribed by the TIPO.
3. Implementation of the Pilot Program:
•The monthly maximum number of patent applications accepted by the TIPO is six. When the monthly maximum is reached, an applicant whose application was not accepted in the current month should re-apply in the following month. Relevant information including the number of accepted patent applications will be displayed in an electronic system provided by the TIPO.
•The number of patent applications for each startup company based on the Pilot Program in the same year is limited to five.
•When a request for the Pilot Program has been filed and a patent application is deemed eligible, the TIPO provides interview materials including a search report regarding novelty, inventiveness and other possible reasons negating patentability within one month after the request for the Pilot Program is filed if there are grounds for rejecting the invention patent application. For a more complex application, the interview materials may be provided later than one month after the request for the Pilot Program is filed.
•In principle, the TIPO will hold a “positive interview” within one month after the applicant receives the aforementioned interview materials. In addition to informing the applicant of the reasons negating patentability, the TIPO will also provide suggestions for amendments in the interview.
•The applicant shall submit an explanation or amendment within one month after the positive interview. If the explanation or amendment is not submitted within the time limit, the patent application will not benefit from the program and continue to be examined based on the filed documents and materials. The applicant may select to withdraw the patent application after assessing the result of the positive interview.
•After the applicant submits an explanation or amendment within the aforementioned one-month period, the TIPO in principle issues a notice for allowance or an examination report within one month.
4. Other matters:
(1) If the applicant withdraws the invention patent application after receiving the aforementioned interview materials for the Pilot Program, the paid examination fee for the invention patent application will not be refunded.
(2) Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for the Pilot Program are published on the TIPO’s website for reference.
(3) The positive interview under the Pilot Program shall be handled in accordance with the Guidelines for Patent Interviews issued by the TIPO
(Translated and adapted based on News published on the TIPO’s website) 
*Section Chief of International Patent Division at Tai E International Patent & Law Office.