B.µ{§Çn¨D
µ{§ÇProcess requirements are non-subject matter restrictions, such as
limitations on the number and type of claims permitted and parameters such as
fees and costs.n¨D¬O«D¥DÃDªº¨î¡A¦p¹ï¤¹³\ªº½Ð¨D¶µªº¼Æ¶q©MÃþ«¬ªº¨î¥H¤Î¦p¶O¥Î©M¦¨¥»ªº°Ñ¼Æ¡CThese requirements vary
considerably among programe.³o¨Çn¨D¦b¤£¦Ppµe¤¤¦³«Ü¤jªº¤£¦P¡CWhile IP Australia and the
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) allow an unlimited number of
claims, for many applicants charges per claim, as imposed by the Japan Patent
Office (JPO), for example, may make the cost of larger claim sets
prohibitive.ÁöµM¿D¬w±M§Q§½©M¥[®³¤j´¼°]§½¡]CIPO¡^¤¹³\¤£¼Æ¶qªº½Ð¨D¶µ¡A¦p¤é¥»±M§Q§½¡]JPO¡^©Ò¹ê¦æªº¡A¹ï³\¦h¥Ó½Ð¤H¦Ó¨¥¡A³v¶µ¦¬¶O¡A¨Ò¦p¡A¥i¯à¨Ï±o¸û¤j½Ð¨D¶µ¶°¦Xªº¶O¥Î¥O¤H±æ¦Ó«o¨B¡CSimilarly, IP Australia and CIPO
are relatively liberal as to unity of invention (the requirement that a
patent application relate to only one invention or to a group of closely
related inventions), while the JPO is stricter in this regard.¦P¼Ë¦a¡A¿D¬w±M§Q§½©MCIPO³£¹ïµo©ú³æ¤@©Ê¡]§Y±M§Q¥Ó½Ð®×¥u¯A¤Î¤@¶µµo©ú©Î¤@²Õºò±K¬ÛÃöªºµo©úªºn¨D¡^¬Û¹ï¼eÃP¡A¦ÓJPO¦b³o¤è±¸û¬°ÄY®æ¡CMost programs charge no additional fee for
accelerated examination, but some offices require that applicants conduct a
prior art search and a comparison of the claimed invention with the closest
prior art.¤j¦h¼Æpµeªº¥[³t¼f¬d¨S¦³ÃB¥~ªº³W¶O¡A¦ý¤@¨Ç±M§Q§½n¨D¥Ó½Ð¤H¶i¦æ¥ý«e§Þ³NÀ˯Á©Mn¨D©Ò½Ðµo©ú»P³Ì±µªñªº¥ý«e§Þ³Nªº¤ñ¸û¡CThis effectively transfers part
of the patent officeâ£á™s work to the patent applicant.³o¦³®Ä¦a±N±M§Q§½ªº¤@³¡¤À¤u§@Âಾ¦Ü±M§Q¥Ó½Ð¤H¡C
C.ResultsC. µ²ªG
Since 2009, accelerated examination under
the various programs has been requested for over 5,000 patent applications. 2009¦~¥H¨Ó¡A¶W¹L5,000¶µ±M§Q¥Ó½Ð®×¤w½Ð¨D¦UºØpµe¤Uªº¥[³t¼f¬d¡CThe United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) received the highest number of requests (3,533), followed by
the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) with 776 and the Korean
Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) with 604 (see Table below).¬ü°ê±M§Q¤Î°Ó¼Ð§½¡]USPTO¡^¦¬¨ìªº½Ð¨D¼Æ¶q³Ì¦h¡]3,533¡^¡A¨ä¦¸¬O^°ê±M§Q§½¡]UKIPO¡^ªº776¥ó©MÁú°ê±M§Q§½¡]KIPO¡^ªº604¥ó¡]¨£¤Uªí¡^¡C
Country°ê®a
|
Starting Date¶}©l¤é´Á
|
Number of Requests (as of August 2012)½Ð¨D¼Æ¡]ºI¦Ü8¤ë2012¡^
|
As a Percentage of Eligible Patents¾A®æ±M§Qªº¦Ê¤À¤ñ
|
UK^°ê
|
May 2009 2009¦~5¤ë
|
776 776
|
20.91% 20.91¢H
|
Australia¿D¬w
|
September 2009
2009¦~9¤ë
|
43 43
|
0.76% 0.76¢H
|
«nSouth KoreaÁú
|
October 2009 2009¦~10¤ë
|
604 604
|
1.88% 1.88¢H
|
Japan¤é¥»
|
November 2009
2009¦~11¤ë
|
220 220
|
1.48% 1.48¢H
|
US¬ü°ê
|
December 2009*
2009¦~12¤ë*
|
3533 3533
|
8.22% 8.22¢H
|
Israel¥H¦â¦C
|
December 2009
2009¦~12¤ë
|
78 78
|
13.13% 13.13¢H
|
Canada¥[®³¤j
|
March 2011 2011¦~3¤ë
|
67 67
|
1.64% 1.64¢H
|
*Note: The USPTO program was temporary and
closed after the 3,500 th application was received. *µù¡GUSPTOp¹º¬O¼È®Éªº¡A¥B¦b¦¬¨ì²Ä3,500¥ó¥Ó½Ð®×«áµ²§ô¡C
The evidence shows that fast-track procedures reduce the time
filing to grant by several years compared to ordinary examination.ÃÒ¾ÚÅã¥Ü¡A»P´¶³q¼f¬d¬Û¤ñ¡A§Ö³t¹D¸ôµ{§ÇÁYµu¤F±q¥Ó½Ð¨ì®Ö㪺®É¶¡¹F¼Æ¦~¡C¦b§Ö³t¹D¸ôpµe¤§¶¡¡A®ÖThe time to grant is cut by between 42 percent and 75 percent
across fast-track programs, with the shortest time to grant delivered by the
UK.㪺®É¶¡ÁYµu¤F42¢H¦Ü75¢H¤§¶¡¡A³Ìµuªº®Öã®É¶¡¬O¥Ñ^°ê´£¨Ñªº¡C
|