Taiwan Residents Are Eligible to Sit for China Patent Bar Exam 

Starting from November 5^th of this year, Taiwan residents will be able to participate in China’s patent attorney qualification exam (also known as the “patent bar”).

For patent professionals, participation in the patent bar has long been expected and is exciting news for Taiwan. Five years ago, the number of patent applications filed from Taiwan to China exceeded the number filed in the U.S., and soon China became a solid top choice for Taiwanese companies seeking to protect IP abroad. The importance of IP protection in China had stimulated the rising of the Chinese patent profession. However, it is widely agreed upon that the general quality of Chinese patent agencies is still under expectation and needs more effort to catch up with the imminent needs of IP owners. By contrast, Taiwan’s mature legal system and globalization have nurtured many competent patent professionals. Taiwan’s participation in China’s patent practice is expected to bring healthy competition to the market, so as to stimulate quality improvement for patent agencies in China.

In the near future, a Taiwan patent practitioner who passes the China patent bar and fulfills the requisite obligations may then practice patent law in China, register as a patent attorney before China’s State Intellectual Property Office, and become a partner at a State approved local patent agency.

This new policy could be attributed to the gradual easing of political tension between China and Taiwan since 2008. This warming-up has accelerated cultural and economic exchanges between people across the Taiwan Strait, which had once been frozen for nearly 10 years. In 2008, the opening of China’s national judicial exam to Taiwan residents gave local lawyers and aspiring law practitioners an alternative opportunity—to practice laws in Mainland China. Subsequently, in 2010, the signing of the Cross-Strait IP Rights Protection Cooperation Agreement (the IPR Agreement) came along with the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), bringing both sides into a new era of intellectual property protection.