TIPO Launches
Fast-Track Trademark Examination
on May 1st, 2020

Pacing up trademark examination time to match the timeline of a new product or service’s launch and turnover is critical to the trademark owners.

Albeit to date, the Taiwan IP Office’s mean trademark examination pendency has been constantly decreasing to be abreast with many peer countries, it yet receives some demands on accelerating examination to meet the needs of advancing trademark use. To further accelerate trademark examination pipeline, TIPO introduces a pilot fast-track examination program (“Program”) by encouraging the use of the existing trademark e-filing system, in the hope that the applicants may find it avail themselves.

An application has to meet several requirements at the time of filing in order to enter the Program.

1. Using the e-filing system hosted by TIPO;
   
   
2. Plain trademark only, excluding non-traditional trademarks such as certification marks, collective membership marks, and collective trademarks;
   
   
3. Naming goods and services identical to the specific terminologies in the e-fling system;
   
   
4. Paying application fee via an electronic portal; and
   
   
5. Submitting a Power of Attorney within 20 days from filing, if any.

The applicant does not need to make an additional request for the Program when filing. The e-filing system will check through spontaneously and then determine whether an application is eligible for the Program. In about one (1) months after filing, a label showing “Fast-Track” will be noted in the case status page on the TIPO’s trademark search system online.

The applicant of a prioritized application should expect 1.5-2.0 months less to have a mark examined than another regular case does. That is, the average pending time is 5.0-5.5 months whereas the Program can enjoy the pendency for 3.5-4.0 months only. However, for foreign applicants who may claim priority to their first-filed applications, it may be difficult for them to be eligible for the Program because the terms of goods and services must be identical to those listed in the priority document. In practice most terms that are already designated in the priority application cannot fully comply with the standard terminologies in the e-filing system. 

It is worth to note that the first-to-file principle remains to dominate. A first-filed regular application may remain to bar registration of a later prioritized application.