TIPS^®  Taiwan Intellectual Property Special

Post-Grant Invalidation Practice

Under the current practice, after the patent application is approved, a Notice of Allowance will be issued. Then, the approved patent will be published for 3 months for opposition purpose. At the end of the 3 months, if there is no successful opposition, a Notice to pay the issue fee and 1st annuity will be issued and the applicant should pay the fees within 30 days, following by a 6-month grace period. Then, the Patent Office will issue Letters Patent. The current practice has delay the grant of patent right at least for three months. The Patent Law Amendment follows the international trend, integrating the pre-grant opposition procedure into the post-grant invalidation procedure, to allow the patentee obtaining the patent right earlier.

Under the new system, after receiving the Notice of Allowance, the applicant has to pay the issue fee and the first year annuity within 3 months. Then, the Letter Patent will be issued and the patent will be published on the Patent Gazette. Any one who intends to challenge the validity of the patent may initiate an invalidation action after the patent is published.