Positive Patent Examination Pilot Program for Startup Companies

Positive Patent Examination Pilot Program

for Startup Companies

1. Purpose

The Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (TIPO) decided to continue the “Positive Patent Examination Pilot Program for Startup Companies“ for one year from January 1, 2024. This program accepts a request for a positive process of the substantive examination of an invention patent application, to encourage new industries to apply for patents and assist startup companies with R&D capabilities to quickly recognize the possibility of obtaining a patent and thus obtain a patent right.

2. Trial period

TIPO accepts applications under this program from January 1, 2024, and the trial period will last until December 31, 2024. TIPO will re-evaluate and decide whether to continually implement or modify this program based on the trial pros and cons.

3. Program content

Startup companies can obtain review results (including grant decisions or review opinion letters) of their invention patent applications within 4 months beginning from applying to participate in this program.

During the trial period, the program is free of filing fees or interview fees.

(1)  Who can apply

This program should be applied for by a startup company. The startup company must be the applicant of the invention patent application when applying for this program.  

The start-up company applicable to this program should be an organized company that has been established and registered for less than eight years under the Company Act of Taiwan or a foreign legal Act. Companies in all industry categories are eligible for this program.

The 8 years is calculated from the date of establishment of the company to the date of applying for this program.

For local start-up companies, there is no need to submit proof documents. TIPO will check the company’s business information via the “Get information about companies or businesses in Taiwan” search website offered by the Department of Commerce, MOEA.

If the applicant is a foreign company, the applicant should provide the documents including Chinese translation thereof to prove the establishment date of the foreign company. If the proving documents are not the original, an affidavit should be provided as well.

The companies that are established after their patent applications were filed by an individual are not eligible for this program.

Only those who have appointed an agent when applying for their invention patent applications can apply for this program. However, when conducting interviews during the positive process, the presence of an agent is suggested rather than required.

(2) When to apply

After TIPO issues a notification of starting the substantive examination, and before the receipt of a first office action notification.

It is not allowed to request a positive process for the substantive examination upon filing an invention patent application. After the applicant files an invention patent application, TIPO must complete the relevant procedures before the substantive examination becomes available. Therefore, the applicant can only apply for the positive process after receiving the notification from TIPO of starting the substantive examination.

(3) How to apply

Those who apply for this program should follow the electronic means stipulated by TIPO and attach relevant proving documents. All applications for this program must be submitted electronically. TIPO has cooperatively constructed a complete electronic application environment according to the government’s electronic policy to save time in notifying official documents. Therefore, this program is only applicable to electronic applications.

The limit of the number of applications accepted per month is 6. The Electronic Filing System (E-SET) will start counting the number of applications from the 1st of each month. If the number of applications accepted reaches the limit, the Electronic Filing System (E-SET) will display the status. Applicants should reapply in the following month.

Each start-up company is limited to 5 applications for this program in the same year. If multiple startup companies are listed as the applicants for an invention patent application, each of the startup companies will be considered as having submitted one filing.

(4) What to expect

(4-1) If the not-to-grant reasons are not found during the review process (the positive interview is therefore not necessary), TIPO will directly issue the grant decision and the search report.

 (4-2) If there are not-to-grant reasons for the invention patent application, TIPO will provide within one month a search report regarding novelty and inventive steps, and interview materials regarding unpatentability after receiving and completing a formal review of the application for this positive process. However, this does not apply to cases with more complexity, e.g., the number of claims within the scope of the patent application exceeds 40.

(4-2-1)TIPO will also conduct a positive interview within one month after the applicant receives the aforementioned interview materials. In addition to the not-to-grant reasons, TIPO will also provide suggestions for amendments.

(4-2-2) After receiving the interview materials, the applicant can make amendments before the positive interview. However, to allow the examiners to have sufficient time to review the amendment and prepare a response during the interview, the amendment should be submitted three days before the positive interview.

(4-2-3) The interview will be conducted only once. Unless the review committee deems it necessary, another interview will not be held.

(4-2-4) The applicant should submit a response or an amendment within one month after the positive interview. If the response or the amendments are not submitted, TIPO will return the invention patent application to the normal examination procedure and continue to examine based on the existing information.

(4-2-5) The applicant will receive the examination results (including the notification of grant decision or opinion letter) within 1 month after the submission of the response or the amendments.

Source: https://topic.tipo.gov.tw/patents-tw/cp-750-930526-2704f-101.html