The current provisions of Rule 17, Paragraph 6 of the Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act require that if a patent application for invention contains disclosure of one or more nucleotides and/or amino acids sequences, a sequence listing complying with the standard provided by the Specific Patent Agency shall be submitted as a separate part of the description; in addition, a copy of the sequence listing in computer-readable form may be submitted. 

The current provisions of Rule 39 of the Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act require that subsequent to laying open but prior to issuing the examination decision, anyone considering that a claimed invention shall not be granted may submit his/her comments to the Specific Patent Agency, which may be accompanied by reasons and relevant evidence.

After amendment, Rule 17, Paragraph 6 of the Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act states that the required sequence listing in the specification can be filed as an electronic file that conforms to the format prescribed by the patent authority, exempting the applicant from the obligation to submit a paper copy of the sequence listing. 

In the amendment to Rule 39 of the Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, regulations pertaining to the submission time of third-party submissions are loosened. Since the average time for the first substantial examination of an invention patent application in Taiwan is about 14 months and invention patent applications are published 18 months after the filing date, the examination of invention patent applications has been concluded before publication, whereby a third party cannot submit relevant opinions in accordance with the current provision. In view of the fact that industry professionals are familiar with technologies in the same field, cited documents provided by industry professionals are of great reference value. In order to increase public participation in patent examination and improve the quality of the examination process, the period for third party submissions of opinions is revised to be before issuance of the examination decision and is not subject to the limitation of laying open of the invention patent application.
 

(Translated from the Hot News announced on the website of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office)