【Volume 97】

Starting January 1, 2023, Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) will allow the application for electronic certificates for patents and trademarks. The relevant regulations are set forth below:

Applicants who receive an Approval Decision issued by Taiwan IPO will be able to apply for either electronic certificates or paper certificates when paying the registration fee after January 1, 2023. Besides, applicants may also apply for either an electronic certificate or a paper certificate in the following procedures:

• Patent: applying for issuance of a replacement or a substitution of the certificate, patent assignment, inheritance, and trust registration.
• Trademark: applying for issuance of a replacement or a substitution of the registration certificate or a division of trademark right.

The government fee for applying for an electronic certificate will remain the same as that for a paper certificate.

Electronic Certificates will not replace paper certificates. After the official launch of electronic certificates in 2023, applicants may still choose to acquire a paper certificate when paying the registration fee. It is unlikely that the paper certificate would be fully replaced by the electronic certificate for the time being.

Those who have already acquired an electronic certificate may still apply for a hard copy of the certificate. If the right holder of the patent or the trademark has the need to preserve the certificate in printed form, the applicant may pay the fee of requesting a certified copy of a document and apply for a hard copy of the patent or trademark certificate. However, those who have already acquired a paper certificate may not apply for an electronic copy. Instead, they may only apply for a certificate that proves the registration status of the patent or trademark.

TIPO will be issuing the electronic certificate in an easily accessible PDF file format which includes an anti-counterfeiting mechanism design and is digitally-signed by TIPO and provided with a QR code. To verify whether the certificate is authentic or correct, one can search in the TIPO Electronic Certificate Verification System for more information, or simply scan the QR code on the certificate and be automatically connected to the system which shows the latest status of the case and verify whether the certificate is valid or not.

If you have any queries about applying for an electronic certificate, please feel free to send us an Email.

We will keep track of TIPO’s newest announcement and offer the latest development and our insight and suggestions.