In order to enable patent examiners to quickly understand technical contents of invention patent applications for advanced technologies, improve examination efficiency and quality, and meet applicants’ needs of obtaining patents as soon as possible so as to facilitate their patent layout, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) recently announced the “Industrial Collaborative Patent Examination Interview Pilot Program**,” which is scheduled to be implemented for a trial period of one year starting from November 1, 2021. The following is an excerpt from the relevant information published by the TIPO.

1. Eligibility Requirements:

An applicant intending to request participation in the Pilot Program in the TIPO must note the following:

․an invention patent application filed in the TIPO is related to advanced technologies;

․a notification of entering substantive examination for the invention patent application has been received by the applicant; and

․no office action or written decision of patent examination for the invention patent application has been issued by the TIPO.

An interview request for two or more invention patent applications may be filed on the basis of the Pilot Program when the applicant(s) of the two or more invention patent applications are the same, and the amount of the invention patent applications is in principle limited to be no more than ten.

2. Definition of Advanced Technologies:

The term “advanced technologies” refers to inventions in the fields of stem cell-based regenerative medicines, medical care informatics, Micro LED display, quantum dot solar cells, neural networks, quantum information, quantum computers, 3nm semiconductor processes, precision of probes for chip packages, twisted bilayer graphene, third-generation semiconductor materials, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, blockchain, 3D printing, fifth-generation mobile communication technology, and other specific technologies to be determined by examiners on a case-by-case basis.

3. Implementation of the Pilot Program:

(1) Under any of the following circumstances, an examiner may arrange an interview ex officio:

I. The examiner preliminarily decides that an invention patent application is related to advanced technologies and then contacts the applicant(s) of the application by telephone. The interview will be held later if the applicant(s) would like to further explain technical content of the invention patent application.

II. An applicant has submitted a request for the Industrial Collaborative Patent Examination Interview for an invention patent application, and the examiner decides that the application complies with the requirements of the Pilot Program.

(2) When a request for the Industrial Collaborative Patent Examination Interview for an invention patent application has been filed but the application is deemed ineligible, the examiner contacts the applicant of the invention patent application by telephone to inform of the fact that the application does not comply with the requirements of the Pilot Program.

(3) Technical personnel understanding technical contents of an invention patent application, including inventors of the invention patent application, the applicant or other technical personnel employed by the applicant, shall attend the interview in person to explain the technical content of the invention patent application. When the technical personnel cannot attend the interview in person, the technical personnel must participate in the interview via video through the applicant’s own video equipment, and the applicant shall appoint an attorney or agent to attend the interview in person. In other words, technical personnel (i.e., not just a lawyer, patent attorney or patent agent) must participate in the interview in person or via video.

(4) A recordation of the interview shall include the date of the interview, the place the interview was held, names of participants, and technologies or matters related to the invention patent application for examination, but the recordation does not include information designated as trade or commercial secrets by the applicant.

(5) In principle, an examination report will be issued within six months after the interview.

(6) Matters not stipulated in the Pilot Program shall be handled in accordance with the Guidelines for Patent Interviews issued by the Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

(Summarized and translated from the News published on the TIPO’s website) 

*Section Chief of International Patent Division at Tai E International Patent & Law Office

** The English name for the Pilot Program has not yet been announced by the TIPO.