TIPS^®  Taiwan Intellectual Property Special

Patent Law Amendments

Referring to our previous newsletters, the patent law amendments have been submitted to the Legislative Yuan. The following are highlights of the proposed amendments:

• Simplify execution requirement in the case of joint-ownership
  
• Clarify the position of first-filed cases
  
• Liberalize procedures for priority claiming
  
• Introduce a domestic priority claiming system
  
• Allow supplements for microorganism deposit applications
  
• Delete patent-of-addition related provisions
  
• Introduce an earlier disclosure system
  
• Set time periods for submitting supplements and corrections
  
• Clarify re-filing opposition and cancellation limitations
  
• Apply domestic priority system to new utility model patents, instead of the earlier disclosure system
  
• Clarify novelty of associated new design patents
  
• Impose licensee obligations for revoked patents
  
• Apply opposition system to new design patents, instead of the earlier disclosure system
  
• Clarify use of infringement verification reports
  
• Add transitional articles
  
• Clarify enforcement dates