TIPS^®  Taiwan Intellectual Property Special

Taiwan Updates 

Patent Attorney Act 

Since the filing and prosecution of patents and related matters involve great professional skill, entrusting a patent attorney to handle the applications is essential to provide a thorough protection. Laws or regulations governing the practice of patent attorneys are very common throughout the world. Yet, the same matter has always been governed by administrative orders in Taiwan. The Ministry of Economic took into account international experience as well as domestic demands, and proposed the “Patent Attorney Act,” which establishes the certification of patent attorneys. The Legislative Yuan of Taiwan passed the Patent Attorney Act on June 14, 2007.

The Patent Attorney Act regulates matters such as the terms of qualification, method of practice, scope of practice, for patent attorneys. After passing the Patent Bar Examination and being licensed, a patent attorney is qualified to handle matters related to patent application, patent opposition and invalidation.

The currently registered patent attorneys maybe licensed under the new system by two routes: firstly, by taking the national patent bar examination; or secondly, in accordance to Article 35 of the Patent Attorney Act, a currently registered patent attorney who meets certain qualifications and has been practicing for over a year, may apply for an exemption from the patent bar examination, and after passing three years of professional training and practicing, the said patent attorney will be licensed under the new system.

According to statistics from the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office, there are currently 8,500 registered patent attorneys in practice. Among them, 4,200 are lawyers, and only 15% of the total registered patent attorneys, namely approximately 1,200 registered patent attorneys, are exempted from the patent bar examination.