The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office has announced that it will begin processing applications for patents and trademarks claiming priority based on applications first filed in China as of 22 November 2010. Representatives from both sides of the Taiwan Strait signed the Cross-Strait Intellectual Property Right Protection Cooperation Agreement on 29 June 2010, and this agreement took effect on 12 September 2010.

In the intervening months, representatives from the administrative agencies tasked with reviewing patent and trademark applications have worked together to draft and implement the administrative procedures necessary to process applications that claim priority from either China or Taiwan. They jointly announced that applications claiming priority will be accepted on 22 November 2010, and that priority may be claimed on any application first filed in the other jurisdiction on or after 12 September 2010, the date the Cross-Strait Intellectual Property Right Protection Cooperation Agreement took effect.

For further information regarding this topic, please contact Peter Dernbach