Patent Amendments ©(Part II of II)

Taiwan IP Updates

By Lyndon

U.S. Holds Workshop with Taiwan and Japan about IP Protection

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) held a 2-day online workshop on Intellectual Property Rights with Taiwanese and Japanese counterparts on June 17^th and 18^th. The Virtual Global Cooperation and Training Framework Workshop on Trade Secrets Protection and Digital Piracy prevention – part of AIT’s Global Cooperation and Training Framework initiative – discussed IPR strategies on trade development, efforts from the government and private sectors to combat online IP infringement, cross-border case studies on trade secrets theft, and compliance on trade secrets protection. The workshop also included government officials from 20 nations who shared their own experiences combatting IPR infringement. In his opening remarks, AIT Director Brent Christensen emphasized the Four I’s which are: interaction, IPR protection, investment, and innovation. “Promotion of the Four I’s will make each of our economies stronger as we develop the global economy for the modern era.”

TIPO Holds Competition for Patent Portfolio Analysis

In July 2021, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office launched the Competition for Patent Portfolio Analysis with the aim of helping enterprises to enhance their patent portfolios. In the competition, the Global Patent Search System was used as the designated patent search database. Participants’ feedback indicated an interest in strategies for developing patent portfolios as well as deepening knowledge about industry trends. As part of the exercise, TIPO offered training courses such as Patent Search Course and Industry Analysis Course with Training Certificates awarded to each person upon completion of the courses. This will be something that participants can highlight on their resumes, especially significant since the competition was for the benefit of staffers in domestic industries, IP law firms, academies, college students and research institutes.

TIPO Announces the Updates for Design Patents – Description and Drawings

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office has announced updated guidelines for Design Patents – Description and Drawings. The key revisions are as follows:

1. A specific section on Instructions for writing descriptions has been added to help applicants to write descriptions more accurately and includes relevant examples.
2. The section on writing descriptions and drawings for graphical designs has been revised with additional examples.
3. The section on writing descriptions and drawings for spatial designs (including constructions and interior designs) has been expanded with more examples.

It is expected that the new instructions will clarify what is expected of applicants when they submit design patent applications.

Revised Examination Guidelines for Computer Software-Related Inventions in Taiwan

Effective July 1^st, 2021, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office will have new Examination Guidelines for Computer Software-Related Inventions which will be of help to examiners when handling related cases and to applicants as a reference for their preparations. Some of the key points are as follows:

1. Introduced examination procedure and flow chart for computer software invention evaluations, supplemented by case examples, as a principle for assessing the eligibility of inventions.
2. In line with the principle of TIPO’s assessment of inventive step in the current examination basis, sections ‘Factors Denying Existence of Inventive Step’ and ‘Factors Determining Inventive Step’ are introduced.
3. Added AI-related examination instructions and application cases for reference.

Part of the impetus for these new guidelines is the growth in AI and big data in recent years and the resultant increase in software-related applications.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. applied for more than 1,000 patents in last 6 months

Applying for a total of 1,263 patents between January and June of this year, TSMC has broken its own record for such a time period. This is a 237% rise over the same period last year. The patents applied for were all in the invention field, and are related to various development plans for the company in the coming years. In the same time period, among foreign companies trying to register patents in Taiwan, Japanese businesses were the most active with 6,044 inventions.