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Deep & Far Newsletter 2025 ©
Mar (1)

Taiwan IP Updates  ¡V March 2025

By Lyndon 

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Taiwan Extends Trial Period for the Accelerated Examination Pilot Program for Design Patents by Two Years

To provide more diverse and flexible examination options for design patent applications, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) launched the Accelerated Examination Pilot Program for Design Patents in September, 2023.  Initially set to run until December 31, 2024, the program has now been extended through December 31, 2026.  The details of the program are as follows:

  1.  Concerning the application timing, applicants may file for accelerated examination for design patents after receiving TIPO’s notification that the preliminary examination is about to begin and before receiving the first Office Action.
  2. Applicants must file electronically in accordance with TIPO’s regulations and provide relevant supporting documents.  During the trial period, no application fee will be charged.
  3. About eligibility criteria, one way is to prove third-party commercial exploitation in the form of product catalogs, newspaper or magazine articles, and specify the third party’s details, the nature of the exploitation, and its starting date.  Another criterion is via recognition by prestigious design awards.  Applicants must provide certificates and evidence of the awarded design corresponding to the applicant’s name.
  4. Finally, another possibility is to prove that the design patent application is by a startup.  Each startup is limited to three applications per year under this program.  Eligible startups must be companies established less than eight years ago under the Company Act or the relevant foreign law.  The establishment period is calculated from the company’s registration date to the design application date.  If priority is claimed, the calculation is based on the earliest priority date.

 

TSMC Tops Patent Applicants List in Taiwan for 9th Year

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. applied for the most patents of any company in Taiwan for the ninth consecutive year in 2024 according to data released by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office.  The office reported that TSMC filed 1,412 invention patent applications last year, down 28% from a year earlier, but still the most among all the patent applicants in Taiwan.  With invention patents considered the most important for new technologies, the drop in TSMC’s filings largely reflected the contract chipmaker’s patent development strategies focusing on invention patents more than utility model or design patents.  DRAM chip supplier Nanya Technology Corp. filed the second-most patents at 466 invention patents, up 25% from a year earlier.  In third place was flat-panel maker AUO Corp. with 425 applications, fourth was the Industrial Technology Research Institute with 356, and fifth was flat screen producer Innolux Corp. with 328.  Interestingly, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reached ninth place with 259 applications, which was an increase of 93% on the previous year.  Hon Hai had the highest increase in invention patent applications in Taiwan last year, reflecting their push to increase their IP portfolio.  Among foreign companies in Taiwan. American semiconductor equipment supplier Applied Materials Inc. had the most invention patent applications in 2024 with 950, replacing South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. from the top spot.  Samsung filed 894 invention patent applications in 2024, dropping down to second place.

 

 

 

 
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