1. Preparation

Before proceeding with the application, the applicant is required to conduct a patent search to ensure the novelty and non-obviousness of the design. In addition, applicants should prepare application materials, including information about the applicant and the inventor, design drawings, and necessary explanatory documents.

2. Submit the application

Applicants can submit their applications directly to the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), either online or in paper form. The applicable application fee is payable upon application.

3. Formal review

TIPO conducts a formal review of the submitted application documents to ensure their completeness and compliance. If the documents are incomplete or incorrectly formatted, the TIPO will ask the applicant to make corrections.

4. Substantive review

Design patent applications in Taiwan are subject to substantive examination. The TIPO assesses the novelty, inventiveness and usefulness of the design. The duration of the substantive examination is approximately six months, depending on the complexity of the particular case.

5. Review comments

If the examiner finds the application problematic, the TIPO will issue a notice of review opinion. The applicant is required to respond to the review comments or make amendments within the specified time (usually 2-3 months) to meet the requirements of the examiner.

6. Authorization phase

If the application passes the substantive examination, the TIPO will issue a patent grant notice. The applicant is required to pay the patent certificate fee and the first annual fee within a specified time (usually 3 months). If the fee is not paid within the specified time, the applicant can pay the late fee and double the first year annual fee within 6 months and still complete the registration.

7. Patent maintenance

The term of protection of a design patent in Taiwan is 12 years from the date of filing of the patent.

8. Announcement phase

Design patent applications that pass the formal examination will be registered and published. If the applicant requests a delay in disclosure, only the basic information will be released, not the design details, and the delay period will not exceed 6 months.