The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) will accept requests for accelerating examination of design patents starting from September 1, 20231. Currently it takes 6-10 months to examine a design patent application, and the new program is expected to effectively shortened the wait time.
Below is a brief overview of the Accelerated Examination Program for Design Patents:
(1) Application Timing:
During the period after receiving the TIPO Official Notification that the examination is about to be conducted, and before receiving the first Office Action.
(2) Conditions:
Condition 1: Commercial implementation by a third party
Condition 2: The claimed design has received prestigious design awards domestically or internationally
The accepted design awards are as follows:
i. Golden Pin Design Award (Taiwan)
ii. iF Design Award (Germany)
iii. Red Dot Design Award (Germany)
iv. Good Design Award (Japan)
v. International Design Excellence Awards, IDEA (USA)
Condition 3: Design Patent application from startups
Companies registered under the Taiwan Company Act or foreign laws with less than 8 years of establishment are limited to 3 applications per year.
(3) Fees:
During the trial period (September 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023), no official fee will be charged.
(4) Examination Timeline:
After requesting for accelerated examination and providing relevant documents, an applicant can receive the examination results within 2 months.
