In order to help patent applicants use invention and design patents more comprehensively and flexibly, and to facilitate companies and enterprises in patent deployments and patent commercialization, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO hereinafter) will implement the new version of "Key Points of Deferring Substantive Examinations for Invention and Design Patent Applications" from January 1, 2025. In addition to the current deferring substantive examination program for preliminary examination of invention or design patent applications, the key points of the new version include:
1. The previously implemented "Key Points of Deferring Substantive Examination for Invention Patent Applications" (published on March 23, 2015) and "Key Points of Deferring Substantive Examination for Design Patent Applications " (published on June 28, 2018; amended on September 1, 2023) are integrated.
2. The patent applications under the re-examination stage will be relaxed to apply for deferring substantive examination before the Examination Report is served.
3. The divisional patent applications are eligible to request the deferments of substantive examination.
4. A new rule is added. For the patent applications that have been applied for prioritized examination, the request for deferment of substantive examination will not be allowed.