Taiwan                       Invention Patent

 

Patentability
 

Definition of invention

  "Invention" means the creation of technical ideas, utilizing the laws of nature.
 

Substantial conditions

　 An invention which is industrially applicable may be granted a patent upon application in accordance with this Act, except for the following:

　An invention that is without the circumstances prescribed in the subparagraphs of the preceding paragraph but can be easily made by a person ordinarily skilled in the art based on prior art shall not be patented . 

　A disclosure made by or against the applicant’s will shall not be deemed as one of the circumstances that would preclude the grant of an invention patent prescribed in the subparagraphs of Paragraph 1 or the preceding paragraph, provided that the concerned patent application is filed within twelve (12) months after the date of the disclosure.

　For the publication in a gazette made in this country or a foreign country in accordance with the laws as the consequence of filing a patent application and made by the applicant’s will, the preceding paragraph is not applicable.
 

Priority claim under WTO membership, etc.

　Where an applicant has first applied for a patent in a foreign country, which reciprocally allows ROC nationals to claim patent priority, or with any member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the applicant may claim priority in respect of an ROC patent application for the same invention if the ROC patent application for the same invention is filed within twelve (12) months after the filing date of the said first patent application.

　Where an applicant claims two or more priorities in respect of a patent application, the period referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be on the basis of the earliest priority date.

　If a foreign applicant is a citizen of a non-member of the WTO and whose home country does not mutually recognize priority with the ROC, but the applicant has domicile or business establishment in any member of the WTO or in the territory of a reciprocal country, the applicant shall also be entitled to claim priority in accordance with the provisions set forth in Paragraph 1.

　For a patent application filed with priority, examination on its patentability shall be based on the priority date.
 

Claim of priority

　An applicant claiming priority in accordance with the preceding article shall simultaneously make a declaration with respect to the following when filing a patent application:

Request for substantive examination 

　A request to the Specific Patent Agency for substantive examination of a patent application for invention may be made by any person within three (3) years after the filing date of the patent application.
 

Payment of fees and publication

　For a patent application for invention that is approved , the grant of such patent application shall be published only when the patent certificate fee and the first-year patent annuity are paid by the applicant within three (3) months after the date on which the approval decision is served ; if the fees are not paid within the said time period , no publication shall be made.

　A patent right granted to a patent application for invention shall start from the publication date of the patent, and a patent certificate shall be issued thereto.

　The term of an invention patent shall expire after a period of twenty (20) years from the filing date of the application.