18 January, 2018
In the period from January through October 2017, there were 305 patent applications taking advantage of the accelerated examination program (AEP), of which 154 were filed by domestic applicants and 151 were filed by foreign applicants. The top 4 foreign applicants by nationality were: Japan (69); the U.S. (29); The Netherlands (8) and Germany (7).
Among them, there were 182 applications filed under Category 1 (i.e., the corresponding application has been approved by a foreign patent authority after substantive examination), and the first office action in those matters (including examination opinions and final decisions) was issued in an average of 71.2 days.
There were 90 applications filed under Category 3 (i.e., the invention application is essential to commercial exploitation), and the first office action was issued in an average of 131.3 days. There were 24 applications filed under Category 4 (i.e., inventions related to green technologies), and the first office action was issued in an average of 99.7 days.
For further information, please contact:
Joyce I. Ho, Partner, Tsar & Tsai Law Firm
joyeho@tsartsai.com.tw
