Changes to accelerated examination trial operation and deferred examination for design patents take effect from September 1, 2023

　To accommodate the patent application strategies, patent portfolio, and the timelines for patent commercialization for design patents, Taiwan IPO begins to provide more diverse examination services for design patents from September 1, 2023.  For example, Taiwan IPO will begin to accept requests for accelerated examination of design patents (with a trial program in operation until December 31, 2024) and will simultaneously amend the regulations for the deferred examination period (to be uniformly set within one year from the date of application). 

1.  Accelerated examination of design patent applications

Applicants of design patent applications that meet any of the following three criteria will be eligible to receive examination results within 2 months after the application documents required for accelerated examination are found complete.  

(a)  Commercial exploitation by a third party 

(b)  The claimed design has won recognition by the prestigious national or international design awards, including the Golden Pin Design Award of Taiwan, iF Design Award of Germany, Red Dot Design Award of Germany, Good Design Award of Japan, and the International Design Excellence Awards of the United States.  

(c)  Design patent applications filed by startups.  

2.  Deferred examination 

The period of deferred examination will be changed to a period within one year after the date of application without exception, regardless of priority rights being or being not claimed.  More information and relevant Q&A with respect to accelerated examination and deferred examination for design patents are provided on Taiwan IPO’s official website.  (Released 2023.08.24) (https://topic.tipo.gov.tw/patents-tw/cp-750-925650-1fdcd-101.html)
/CCS