Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has proposed further changes to the Patent Act that if passed would benefit patent applicants, and bring Taiwan’s patent regime further in line with the international community. In this article, we will outline one of the possible changes, divisional applications.

The Status Quo

Under Taiwan’s patent laws, invention patent applications that involve two or more inventions may be divided into separate divisional applications, at the request of either the TIPO or the applicant. The applicant may file a divisional application in either of the following circumstances:

1. Within 30 days of receiving the notice of allowance of the original application.
2. During the re-examination stage: Any time before a re-examination decision on the original application is rendered, regardless of whether it is a decision of allowance or refusal.

Divisional applications are accorded the filing date and other priority rights claimed in the original application. Given the 30-day period indicated in the first circumstance, if the applicant is unable to submit the claims intended for the divisional application before the deadline, the applicant may file amendments to the claims any time before the first office action is issued.
Requests for a substantive examination of a divisional application must be filed either within 3 years from the filing date of the original application or within 30 days from the filing date of the divisional application, whichever is later. The divisional application will be published within 18 months of the filing date of the original application.

Further divisional applications may be filed within 30 days on receiving the notice of allowance for the preceding divisional application, and the foregoing rules apply to any further divisional applications.

Amendments Contemplated by the TIPO

The TIPO is contemplating introducing the following amendments:

1. Allowing applicants to file divisional applications following receipt of notice of allowance of the original application in the re-examination stage.
2. Extending the statutory time limit for filing of divisional applications from 1 month to 3 months.

The proposed changes would therefore benefit IP holders and patent applicants because the timeframe for filing divisional applications would be lengthened. This would also bring Taiwan’s rules further in line with international norms. As these changes move through the legislative process, we will be monitoring their implementation.

For more information on patent matters in Taiwan, please contact Peter Dernbach at pdernbach@winklerpartners.com or Betty Chen at betty@winklerpartners.com.