On June 15, 2015, our managing partner, Ms. Candy KY Chen was invited to the signing ceremony of Two MOUs on PPH MOTTAINAI and on Exchange of Industrial Property Information and PDX Signed between Taiwan IPO and Korean IPO. The ceremony was held at TIPO.

News report from TIPO

The Taipei Mission in Korea and the Korean Mission in Taipei signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on June 15, 2015, to establish collaboration on Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) MOTTAINAI program, exchange of industrial information and electronic exchange of priority documents between TIPO and KIPO. The two MOUs can benefit applicants with expedited examination procedures and allow the public to access industrial property information exchanged between the two offices.

For years, TIPO has been committed to broadening its international collaboration and exchanges. This year, the office is breaking new grounds with KIPO in terms of establishing a mechanism for dialogues and a collaborative relation. Earlier in February, Director General Wang Mei-hua was invited to KIPO and met with former Commissioner Kim Young-min to exchange views on respective trends in IP development and collaboration. The two heads of office reached consensus on PPH collaboration, exchange of industrial property information, and electronic exchange of priority documents. The meeting was successful and important in that it contributed to the signing of the two MOUs.

Korea ranks high among top patent filing nations in Taiwan. In 2014, the number totaled 2,127 cases, with LG Chem, Samsung Display, and Samsung Electronics being the top 20 foreign applicants. Patent applications filed with KIPO by Taiwanese applicants grew from 768 cases in 2013 to 955 cases in 2014. TSMC, Winbond Electronics, MediaTek, and Silicon Motion are the major companies filing patents in Korea. In terms of the types of industry, this new PPH MOTTAINAI program will benefit chemical engineering, electronics, and semiconductor sectors. TIPO and KIPO are to commence PPH MOTTAINAI program on July 1, 2015.

To implement the second MOU on electronic exchange of priority documents, TIPO and KIPO will work together to complete relevant infrastructure for this collaboration. This collaborative exchange will save applicants’ time and money for postal delivery, streamline respective application procedures, accelerate examination work at both offices, as well as reduce storage space for printed documents.

Back in 2003, TIPO and KIPO began to exchange patent and trademark information. However, access to such information has been strictly internal. With the MOU now in place, the information exchanged between offices can be made accessible to the public. This will not only increase the spread of prior art technologies, but also help third parties to add values to acquired information. In the long run, the information will help the industries to generate greater innovations, which in turn can lead to prosperity for the industries.