The Taiwanese Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has announced two new initiatives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the design patent examination process.
Effective Date: September 1, 2023
- Accelerated Examination
The TIPO will now offer accelerated examination of design patents that meet one of the following three criteria. Design patents that are applied for accelerated examination will be examined within two months of the filing of all required documents.
(1)The design is being commercially implemented by a third party.
(2) The design has received a prestigious design award, such as:
‧The Taiwan Golden Pin Design Award,
‧The German iF Design Award,
‧The German Red Dot Design Award,
‧The Japanese Good Design Award
‧The American International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA)
(3) The application is filed by a startup company
- Postponement of Substantial Examination
The new Initiative allows any design patent application, regardless of whether it claims priority, to request postponement of Substantial Examination for up to one year from the filing date
The postponement request must specify the date on which the applicant wishes to resume the substantive examination, and that date must be within one year of the filing date of the design patent application.