Taiwan-Canada PPH MOTTAINAI program comes into effect on February 1, 2018
2018/01/31 TaiwanDate Posted：2018-01-31
The Memorandum of Understanding on the Patent Prosecution Highway between Taiwan and Canada was signed at the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei on January 31, 2018. The ceremony was witnessed by Vice Minister Mei-hua Wang of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the MOU will come into effect on February 1, 2018. This is yet another achievement by TIPO, after it forged cooperation with its counterparts in the US, Japan, Spain, South Korea and Poland on PPH programs.
The cooperation between Taiwan Intellectual Property Office and Canadian Intellectual Property Office on PPH program will speed up the examination process for invention patent applications in both countries, allow applicants to get patents in a quick manner, and benefit industries on both sides on their patent portfolio strategies. In particular, the PPH program to be launched this time around is under the “MOTTAINAI” model. Under this scheme, after applicants apply for patent for the same invention in both countries, when they get positive examination results from either patent office, they will be eligible for the PPH at the other office, thereby accelerating the examination process. For example, in the event that a Taiwanese national applies for an invention patent firstly to TIPO and later to the CIPO, if a favorable decision is firstly given by the CIPO, the applicant will then be eligible to request for the PPH at TIPO. The cooperation program will make the patent examination process faster and more efficient, and TIPO urges applicants on both sides to make full use of it.
For more information about the TIPO-CIPO PPH MOTTAINAI program and the application form, please visit: https://www.tipo.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=335512&CtNode=7556&mp=2
Intellectual Property Office Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.
