【Volume 66】

The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched a new Industry Collaboration Patent Examination Interview Pilot Program to expedite the patent examination process. This program is designed to enable examiners to quickly grasp the technical content of patent applications involving prospecting technologies, as well as to enhance the efficiency and quality of examination and meet applicants’ increasing needs for speedy grants. The Pilot Program was launched on November 1, 2021 and will last for a year.

Who may benefit:

An applicant who has applied for an invention patent application relates to a “prospecting technology” and has been notified by the IPO that the application will undergo substantive examination, but has not yet received an Office Action or notification of decision.

Eligible “prospecting technologies” include:

Stem cell regenerative medicine, health care informatics, micro-LED displays, quantum dot solar cells, neural networks, quantum information, quantum computers, 3nm semiconductor process, wafer packaging probe precision, twisted double-layer graphene, 3rd generation semiconductor materials, artificial intelligence, IoT, big data, block chain, 3D printing, 5th generation mobile communication technology, and other technologies the examiners may deem appropriate for the program.

How to proceed:

1. The applicant may file the request for the Industry Collaboration Patent Examination Interview. Or, the examiner may, after confirming with the applicant that he may be willing to elaborate on the technical content of the application involving prospecting technologies, notify the applicant to conduct the interview.
2. The interview may be conducted at the IPO main office or at local IPO information centers.
3. Those directly involved in the invention, such as the inventor and applicant must be present during the interview and explain the technical content of the application to the examiner. The sole presence of patent attorneys, attorneys or patent agents is insufficient.
4. If the inventor and applicant are not able to attend, a representative must be appointed to participate in the interview and prepare video call devices to allow the inventor and applicant to interview with the examiner.
5. The IPO meeting minutes shall include the time, location and participants of the interview, as well as the application-related technology or matters required for examination. Those marked as confidential by the applicant, however, shall not be included.
6. The decision of examination will be issued within 6 months after the interview.