How long does a Taiwan patent or trademark take?

For 2025, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) reported an average first office action pendency of 8.0 months and an average disposal pendency of 13.8 months for invention patent applications. Both are measured from the request for substantive examination, not from the filing date. For trademark applications it reported an average first office action pendency of 5.6 months, measured from filing, and an average disposal pendency of 7.1 months. These are TIPO’s published averages for 2025 (TIPO Annual Report 2025), not a forecast for any individual case.

The sections below show how each figure is measured, what the statutes fix before and after examination, the official routes to faster examination, and the step from approval to certificate. Response periods and other time limits are set out in Taiwan patent and trademark deadlines at a glance.

TIPO figures for 2025

The table lists the averages TIPO reported for 2025, under the names its annual report uses. The last column gives the start and end points where the report defines them.

Application	TIPO’s measure	2025 average	Measured from and to
Invention patent (first-instance examination)	Average first office action pendency	8.0 months	From the filing of the request for substantive examination to the issuance of the first office action
Invention patent (first-instance examination)	Average disposal pendency	13.8 months	From the filing of the request for substantive examination to the issuance of the examination decision
Invention patent (reexamination)	Average first office action pendency	7.4 months	From the filing of the request for reexamination to the issuance of the first office action
Invention patent (reexamination)	Average disposal pendency	10.3 months	From the filing of the request for reexamination to the issuance of the decision
Utility model patent	Average disposal pendency	2.0 months	Not stated in the annual report
Utility model technical evaluation report	Average completion time	5.0 months	Not stated in the annual report
Design patent	Average first office action pendency	4.7 months	Not stated in the annual report
Design patent	Average disposal pendency	5.7 months	Not stated in the annual report
Trademark	Average first office action pendency	5.6 months	From the filing of a new application to the issuance of the first office action
Trademark	Average disposal pendency	7.1 months	Not stated in the annual report

All figures are from the TIPO Annual Report 2025. The first-instance invention figures are averages as of the end of the year.

How to read the figures

Invention patents

TIPO measures both first-instance figures from the filing of the request for substantive examination, not from the filing date of the application. For an invention patent application, any person may request substantive examination within three years after the filing date. If no request is filed within that period, the application is deemed to have been withdrawn (Patent Act, Art. 38). The time between filing and that request is therefore outside the 8.0 and 13.8 months.

Disposal pendency runs to the issuance of the examination decision. Publication of the grant and the patent certificate come after that; see From approval to publication and certificate.

Reexamination

An applicant who disagrees with a decision of rejection on an invention patent application may request reexamination, with a statement of reasons, within two months after the decision is served (Patent Act, Art. 48). TIPO measures the reexamination figures from the filing of that request, so they are a separate measurement from the first-instance figures.

Figures with no stated start or end point

For utility model applications, technical evaluation reports, design applications, and trademark disposal, TIPO’s annual report gives the figures without stating the points from which and to which they are measured.

How timing differs for the three types of patent

Invention

An invention patent application is laid open (published) after 18 months from its filing date or, where priority is claimed, from the earliest priority date, provided it meets the formality requirements and nothing bars its publication (Patent Act, Art. 37). Substantive examination is not automatic: it follows a request made within the three-year period described above. TIPO publishes a flowchart of invention patent examination and administrative remedies.

Utility model

Utility model applications undergo a formality examination only; patentability is not substantively examined. If the formality examination finds no ground for refusal, the utility model patent is granted and published (Patent Act, Art. 113). No request for examination is needed. Publication comes after the fees described below are paid. The 2.0-month figure therefore does not describe a substantive examination.

After a utility model patent has been published, any person may request a technical evaluation report on it from TIPO. Where the request states that a party other than the patentee is commercially exploiting the utility model and encloses supporting documents, TIPO is to issue the report within six months (Patent Act, Art. 115). In 2025, TIPO completed 576 technical evaluation reports for utility model patents; the average completion time was 5.0 months (TIPO Annual Report 2025).

Design

Design patent applications undergo substantive examination, which TIPO conducts automatically; no request for examination is needed. They are not laid open before the grant is published; laying open after 18 months applies only to invention patent applications.

Faster examination and deferral

Fast-track channels for invention patents

TIPO’s fast-track channels for invention patent applications currently include the following; each has its own requirements, set out in the official source cited.

• Accelerated Examination Program (AEP). Available on four grounds set out on TIPO’s AEP page; a request may be filed after TIPO has notified the applicant that substantive examination or reexamination is about to begin.
• Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). TIPO runs PPH programs with partner patent offices, in two forms, Normal PPH and PPH MOTTAINAI; TIPO’s PPH page lists the current programs and links to the guidelines for each.
• Prioritized examination (Patent Act, Art. 40). After an application has been laid open, TIPO may, on request, examine it with priority if a person other than the applicant is commercially exploiting the invention. Supporting evidence must be filed with the request.
• TW-Support Using the PPH Agreement (TW-SUPA). For invention patent applications first filed in Taiwan that serve as the priority basis for a corresponding application filed at a PPH partner office; see TIPO’s TW-SUPA page.

Pilot programs

TIPO also runs the following pilot programs. Each has its own eligibility requirements and a stated trial period. The dates below are those given in TIPO’s announcements, as last checked on the review date shown at the top of this page.

• Accelerated Examination Program for Reexamination (AEPRe): renewed for another year from September 1, 2026 (renewal announcement, in Chinese).
• Positive Patent Examination Pilot Program for Startup Companies: current trial period of one year from January 1, 2026 (announcement, in Chinese).
• Pilot Program for Accelerated Examination of Invention Patent Applications Filed by Female Applicants: extended through June 30, 2027.
• Industry Collaborative Patent Interview Pilot Program (an interview program, not an accelerated-examination channel): runs through December 31, 2026, and TIPO may change or end it during the trial period (announcement with the program text attached, in Chinese).
• Accelerated Examination Pilot Program for Design Patents: extended through December 31, 2026; TIPO will then decide whether to continue or modify it.

Deferral

Deferral works in the other direction. Under TIPO’s current directions, in force since January 1, 2026, the applicant of an invention patent application for which substantive examination has been requested may, once only, ask TIPO to defer examination to a stated date no later than five years from the filing date. The request must be made before the first office action is served in first-instance examination or, at the reexamination stage, before the first office action in reexamination. Deferral is not available where a third party requested the examination, or where prioritized examination, accelerated examination, or the PPH has been requested. TIPO may decline a request, or end a deferral it has accepted, where it finds that deferral could seriously affect the public interest or the interests of third parties.

From approval to publication and certificate

After an invention patent application is approved, the applicant must pay the patent certificate fee and the first-year annuity within three months after the approval decision is served. The grant is published only after payment; if the fees are not paid within that period, it is not published (Patent Act, Art. 52). The same three-month payment rule applies to utility model and design patents (Arts. 120 and 142). What applies when that period is missed is covered in the deadlines table.

According to TIPO, once the applicant has filed the request for the patent certificate and paid the certificate fee and first-year annuity, TIPO will in principle publish the grant and send out the certificate within one month. TIPO describes the whole process, from receipt of the request through preparation of the Patent Gazette to mailing the certificate, as taking about 30 days, and notes that it may take slightly longer depending on how the fees are paid.

TIPO also states that the Patent Gazette is issued three times a month, and that granted patents are published on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month.

An invention patent right takes effect on the date the grant is published, and a patent certificate is issued. The patent term is nonetheless counted from the filing date (Patent Act, Art. 52).

An applicant who needs to postpone the publication of the grant must request this from TIPO when paying the patent certificate fee and first-year annuity. The postponement may not exceed six months (Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 86).

Trademarks: examination, fast track, and registration

Examination figures

Only one of the two trademark figures in the table comes with a definition. TIPO measures first office action pendency, 5.6 months for 2025, from the filing of a new application to the issuance of the first office action. For the disposal figure, 7.1 months for 2025, the annual report states no start or end point.

Fast track

Fast-track examination needs no request and no extra fee: TIPO’s system routes an application to the fast track automatically when all of the conditions are met. The conditions are listed on our trademark page.

In 2025, 72.2% of trademark applications qualified, and fast-track cases received their first notice on average 2.01 months sooner than regular cases (TIPO Annual Report 2025). Whether a given application qualifies depends on how it is filed, in particular on whether every item in its list of goods and services uses a reference name.

Accelerated examination

Accelerated examination has been available since May 1, 2024, under Article 19(8) of the Trademark Act. A request must be supported by use of the mark, or preparation for its use, in Taiwan; use abroad does not qualify (TIPO Q&A). The conditions are set out on our trademark page.

After approval

When an application is approved, the registration fee must be paid within two months from the day following service of the approval decision. Only after payment is the registration published and the registration certificate issued; if the fee is not paid within that period, the mark is not published for registration (Trademark Act, Art. 32). According to TIPO’s trademark registration fee payment form, the registration is published and the registration certificate is sent about one month after TIPO receives the fee. The registration is published in the Trademark Gazette (Trademark Act, Art. 11). According to TIPO’s annual report, the Gazette is issued twice a month.

Trademark rights arise on the date the registration is published, and the opposition period follows that publication (Trademark Act, Arts. 33 and 48).

How this page is kept current

The averages on this page are for 2025 and come from the TIPO Annual Report 2025. We update them each year when TIPO publishes its next annual report. The date of the last review is shown at the top of this page.

Related pages: Is Taiwan in the PCT?, the patent filing checklist, and our patent and trademark practice pages. For how we take instructions and report, see For Foreign Associates.