Taiwan patent filing checklist for foreign applicants

Under Article 25 of the Patent Act, a Taiwan invention patent application gets its filing date once the application form, the description, the claims and any necessary drawings are all on file with the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO). The description, claims and drawings may be filed first in English or another of the nine accepted foreign languages; the application form itself is completed in Chinese. The Chinese translation, the power of attorney and the priority document can follow, each within its own period. An applicant with no domicile or business establishment in Taiwan must designate an agent to file (Patent Act, Art. 11(2)).

What to send us

For a new patent filing we need:

• the description, claims, abstract and drawings (for a design application, the description and drawings), in Chinese or in one of the nine accepted foreign languages;
• the applicant’s name, nationality and address, the name of its representative if it has one, and the Chinese name used in earlier Taiwan cases, if any;
• the full name and the nationality of each inventor;
• for a priority claim, the filing date of the first application, the country or WTO member in which it was filed, and its application number;
• a scanned copy of the signed power of attorney, which may follow the application.

Tell us before we file if the invention or design has already been disclosed, if the invention involves a deposit of biological material, or if the priority application is a national application filed in Japan, South Korea or the United States.

What fixes the filing date

The filing date is the date on which all the documents listed for that type of application have been filed.

Application	Documents that fix the filing date	Basis
Invention	Application form, description, claims and any necessary drawings	Patent Act, Art. 25
Utility model	Application form, description, claims and drawings. Drawings are mandatory for a utility model.	Patent Act, Art. 106
Design	Application form, description and drawings	Patent Act, Art. 125

An abstract is also part of an invention application, but Article 25(2) of the Patent Act does not list it among the documents that fix the filing date.

Filing first in a foreign language

For an invention application, the description, claims and necessary drawings may be filed first in a foreign language. If the Chinese translation is then submitted within the period specified by TIPO, the filing date is the date on which the foreign-language documents were filed. The same applies to utility model applications (description, claims and drawings) and design applications (description and drawings).

Four points to check before using this route:

• Language. The foreign-language documents must be in one of nine languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish (Regulations Governing Submission of Foreign Language Application Documents, Art. 2).
• Content. To secure a filing date, the foreign-language documents for an invention application must contain a description, at least one claim and any necessary drawings; for a utility model application, a description, at least one claim and drawings; and for a design application, drawings together with the title of the design (same Regulations, Art. 4).
• The form. The application form itself must be completed in Chinese (Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 3(2)); TIPO’s English FAQ specifies traditional Chinese. The form is not part of the foreign-language documents.
• No changes. Foreign-language documents filed to secure a filing date cannot be amended, and the Chinese translation may not extend beyond the content disclosed in the foreign-language documents as filed (Patent Act, Art. 44; Arts. 110 and 133 for utility model and design applications).

The time limit for the Chinese translation is in the table below. If the translation is not submitted within the specified period, the application will be dismissed. If the translation is submitted before the dismissal decision is served, the application is accepted, but the filing date becomes the date on which the translation was submitted and the foreign-language documents are deemed not to have been filed. A later filing date can also cost the priority claim, as the priority section explains.

What can follow, and by when

Two kinds of period apply to items filed after the application: periods that TIPO specifies in a notice, and periods fixed by the Patent Act itself. The second kind, such as the period for filing priority documents, cannot be extended at the applicant’s request unless the Act itself provides otherwise.

Item	When it is due	Basis
Chinese translation of documents filed in a foreign language	According to TIPO, within four months for invention and design applications and within two months for utility model applications, counted from the date the foreign-language documents were filed. An extension may be requested before the period expires, up to a total of six months from that date. The period stated in TIPO’s notice for the individual application governs.	Patent Act, Arts. 25, 106 and 125; Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 6; TIPO FAQ
Power of attorney	TIPO sets the period in its notice. Under TIPO’s patent examination guidelines the period is, as a rule, four months for invention and design applications, extendable by two months on a reasoned request filed before it expires; for utility model applications it is two months, extendable by two months and then, on a further reasoned request, another two. As a rule the total does not exceed six months. The period stated in TIPO’s notice governs.	Patent Act, Art. 17(1); Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 6; TIPO Patent Examination Guidelines, Part I, Chapter 16
Priority document, or the details needed for electronic exchange	Within 16 months after the earliest priority date for invention and utility model applications; within 10 months for design applications. This is a statutory period and cannot be extended.	Patent Act, Arts. 29, 120 and 142; Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 26
Certificate of deposit of biological material	Within four months after the filing date or, where priority is claimed, within 16 months after the earliest priority date. Both periods are statutory and cannot be extended.	Patent Act, Art. 27

A wider table of periods is on our page on Taiwan patent and trademark deadlines.

Priority claim and priority document

Taiwan is not a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and a PCT international application cannot designate Taiwan or enter a national phase in Taiwan. The Taiwan application is filed directly with TIPO.

To claim priority, an invention or utility model application must be filed in Taiwan within 12 months after the filing date of the first application; where two or more priorities are claimed, the period is counted from the earliest priority date (Patent Act, Art. 28). The 12 months are counted from the day following the filing date of the first application up to the filing date accorded in Taiwan (Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 25(1); Art. 41(1) for utility model applications). Under TIPO’s examination guidelines, if the Taiwan filing date is moved to a later date because required documents were completed late, and that later date falls outside the 12 months, the priority claim will not be accepted. A design application claiming priority must be filed within six months after the filing date of the first application (Patent Act, Arts. 28 and 142). The same guidelines provide that the period is six months where either the first application or the Taiwan application is a design application.

Our page on Taiwan and the PCT covers the priority period in more detail.

Declaring the claim

A priority claim must be declared at the time of filing the Taiwan application, stating (1) the filing date of the first application, (2) the country or WTO member in which it was filed, and (3) the application number of the first application (Patent Act, Art. 29(1)). If the filing date of the first application, or the country or WTO member in which it was filed, is not declared at the time of filing, the priority claim is deemed not to have been made (Art. 29(3)). The application number of the first application may be supplied afterwards.

The priority document

The priority document must be the certified copy issued by the office of first filing. For invention and utility model applications it must be submitted within 16 months after the earliest priority date; for design applications, within 10 months. If it is not submitted in time, the priority claim is deemed not to have been made (Patent Act, Arts. 29, 120 and 142). This is a statutory period and cannot be extended.

If only a photocopy is submitted within that period, TIPO will set a time limit for submitting the certified copy of the same document; if it is not then submitted, the priority claim is deemed not to have been made. An electronic version that meets TIPO’s requirements may replace the certified copy if the applicant states that it is identical to it (Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 26).

Under TIPO’s examination guidelines, where the applicant in Taiwan is not the same as the applicant of the priority application, TIPO presumes that the applicant is entitled to claim priority and does not ask for a document assigning the priority right; any later dispute is the applicant’s responsibility.

Electronic exchange in place of a paper copy

As of October 2026, the priority document can be supplied by electronic exchange where the priority application is a national application filed in Japan or South Korea (invention, utility model and design applications) or in the United States (all patent types); a PCT international application does not qualify, even one filed in one of those countries. TIPO’s section on electronic exchange of priority documents (in Chinese) has a page on each arrangement.

If your priority application qualifies, please send us its filing date and application number and, for Japan and the United States, the type of application and the access code, together with your filing instructions; no access code is needed for South Korea. Once the exchange is completed, the priority document is deemed submitted and a paper certified copy is normally not needed. The details can also be supplied after filing, but only within 16 months after the earliest priority date (10 months for designs).

If the exchange fails for a reason on the applicant’s side, such as a wrong access code or application number, TIPO will notify the applicant to correct the details or file the paper priority document within two months; if neither is done in time, the priority document is deemed not to have been submitted.

Applicant and inventor details

The application form must state (Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 16):

• the title of the invention;
• the name and nationality of the inventor;
• the applicant’s name, nationality, and domicile, residence or business establishment, together with the name of its representative, if any; and
• if an agent is appointed, the agent’s name and business establishment.

The same particulars are required for utility model applications, and for design applications with the title of the design and the designer in place of the title of the invention and the inventor (Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Arts. 45 and 49).

Inventors

For each inventor we need the full name and the nationality. Because the application form is completed in traditional Chinese, each inventor also needs a Chinese name.

An inventor must be a natural person, and where there is more than one inventor all of them must be listed in the application form. Inventorship is taken as stated in the application form at filing; it can be changed afterwards by a written request, for which an official fee is payable.

Chinese names

A foreign applicant needs a Chinese name for the same reason. If the form gives the applicant’s name only in a foreign language, the filing date is not affected, but the complete form with the Chinese name must be supplied within the period TIPO sets.

If you have filed in Taiwan before, please tell us the Chinese name used in your earlier cases so that we can keep to the same name. For a first filing, we suggest a Chinese name for your approval.

Naming the right applicant

The applicant is taken as stated in the application form first filed. If the applicant named there is wrong and is later corrected to the party actually entitled to apply, the filing date becomes the date on which the correct applicant is established. TIPO’s guidelines and Q&A describe two situations in which the original filing date is kept: where, on a statement of the facts with supporting documents, the correction only removes an applicant who was named by mistake alongside the true applicant, which the guidelines allow as an exception; and where the change is made instead by recording an assignment of the right to apply from the applicant originally named. Omissions in the application form other than the applicant’s name can be remedied without affecting the filing date.

Assignment and corporate documents

No assignment or other document proving the right to apply is required when a patent application is filed, even where the applicant is not the inventor. A certificate of incorporation is normally not needed at filing: in patent cases TIPO in principle judges a foreign company’s status from its name, and it may ask for proof of identity or corporate status where it considers it necessary.

Power of attorney

The power of attorney is signed by the applicant: an individual signs personally, and a foreign company may sign through its representative or another authorized signatory alone; a corporate seal is not required. Please print the signatory’s name and title below the signature. Where an authorized signatory signs, TIPO’s patent and trademark guidelines call for a document showing the authorization or a declaration of authority.

Taiwan’s patent and trademark laws and enforcement rules do not require a power of attorney filed with TIPO to be notarized or legalized; what they call for is a signed power of attorney stating the agent’s authority. TIPO may, where it considers it necessary, ask the applicant for documents proving identity or corporate status. This covers proceedings before TIPO only, not powers of attorney for court proceedings.

As a rule, a scanned copy of the signed power of attorney is enough for us to file; it is filed with a statement that it is identical to the original. Please keep the signed original: TIPO may ask to see it, and we will ask you for it if TIPO does.

Under TIPO’s patent and trademark guidelines, a power of attorney written in a foreign language must be filed with a Chinese translation. The translation does not need to be signed, and the agent’s authority is determined by the original-language document.

A power of attorney may be filed after the application, within the period shown in the table above. If the power of attorney of an applicant with no domicile or business establishment in Taiwan is not filed within the period TIPO has set, the application is dismissed; a late filing made before TIPO issues the dismissal is still accepted (Patent Act, Art. 17(1)). Our page on the power of attorney for Taiwan filings goes into the details.

Grace period, biological material and fees

Grace period

TIPO does not require a declaration, or any document, at the time of filing in order to rely on the grace period. The period is 12 months for inventions and utility models and six months for designs, counted from the day following the earliest disclosure up to the filing date accorded in Taiwan; it does not cover publication in a patent gazette that follows from the filing of a patent application and is made by the applicant’s will (Patent Act, Arts. 22, 120 and 122; Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Arts. 13, 45 and 46). Under TIPO’s examination guidelines, where an invention application both claims priority and relies on the grace period, the priority period cannot be counted from the date of the disclosure, and the two periods cannot be accumulated. If the examiner cannot directly determine from the file that the conditions are met, for example because the disclosure may be another person’s independent work, the applicant has to state the facts and prove them, so keep everything that may serve as proof.

If the invention or design was disclosed before filing, tell us when and how before we file. As a rule, we then state the disclosure on the application form and file the supporting documents with the application, which TIPO says facilitates examination; we confirm the approach with you for each case.

Deposit of biological material

Where an invention patent application involves a biological material that is not readily available to a person skilled in the art, the material must be deposited with the domestic depository designated by TIPO no later than the filing date (Patent Act, Art. 27). A deposit already made before filing with a foreign depository recognized by TIPO (an International Depositary Authority) is not enough on its own: the material must still be deposited in Taiwan, although this no longer has to be done by the filing date. The exception is a deposit made before filing with a depository designated by a country that mutually recognizes deposits with Taiwan, which needs no further deposit in Taiwan; TIPO publishes the list of those countries.

In every case the required certificate or certificates must be submitted to TIPO within four months after the filing date, or within 16 months after the earliest priority date where priority is claimed; these periods are statutory and cannot be extended. Where the material has been deposited, the description must state the depository, the date of deposit and the deposit number; if it was deposited with a foreign depository before filing, the description must also state the foreign depository, date and number (Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, Art. 17).

Tell us before filing if the invention involves a deposit, so that the route and the timing can be planned for your case.

Official fees

For a patent application, the official application fee is due when the application is filed (Patent Act, Art. 92). If the fee has not been paid in full, TIPO notifies the applicant to remedy this within the period it specifies; the application is accepted once the documents and the fee are complete within that period, and is, as a rule, dismissed if the period is missed, although a remedy made before TIPO issues the dismissal is still accepted. The period is the one stated in TIPO’s notice.

For patent applications filed electronically, TIPO’s Q&A says the payment deadline is in principle the same as for paper filings; a payment slip printed from the e-filing system must be paid by the deadline shown on it, which the Q&A describes as within 10 days from the day the filing was successfully submitted.

According to TIPO’s English FAQ for patents, non-residents cannot pay official fees to TIPO directly, whether by bank transfer, credit card or check; payment has to be made by an appointed representative who resides or is domiciled in Taiwan, such as a patent attorney.

Trademark filings: the minimum

A trademark application takes its filing date from the day on which an application stating the applicant, a reproduction of the trademark, and the designated goods or services is filed with TIPO. If one of these three elements is missing, the filing date is the date on which the missing element is supplied (Trademark Act, Art. 19; TIPO trademark FAQ).

Item	What applies	Basis
Goods and services	In Chinese, and listed specifically. If they are submitted in a foreign language, TIPO will require correction and no filing date is obtained until the Chinese text is filed. A blanket designation such as “all goods in this class” does not secure a filing date either.	Enforcement Rules of the Trademark Act, Arts. 3 and 19; TIPO examination guidelines and trademark FAQ
Priority	To claim priority, the Taiwan application must be filed within six months from the day following the first filing date, and priority must be claimed when the application is filed. A copy of the first application, certified as accepted by the country or WTO member that received it, must be submitted within three months from the day following the Taiwan filing date; otherwise priority is deemed not to have been claimed. The three-month period is a statutory period and cannot be extended.	Trademark Act, Art. 20; Enforcement Rules of the Trademark Act, Art. 20
Power of attorney	Must specify the powers delegated to the agent. It may be filed after the application: under TIPO’s guidelines the period is, as a rule, two months for applicants with no domicile or business establishment in Taiwan, and the period stated in TIPO’s notice governs.	Enforcement Rules of the Trademark Act, Art. 5; TIPO examination guidelines

One point differs from patent practice. Under TIPO’s examination guidelines, where the applicant in Taiwan is not the applicant named in the first application, a document proving the assignment of the priority right must be filed in addition to the priority document.

Once the application is filed, the reproduction of the mark and the designated goods or services cannot be changed. Goods or services may be restricted but not added, and the reproduction may be amended only where the change is not substantial (Trademark Act, Art. 23; Enforcement Rules of the Trademark Act, Art. 24). Our trademark practice page goes further into trademark filings.

The two-page checklist

A two-page version of this checklist, for forwarding to the applicant, is available as a PDF: Taiwan filing checklist (PDF).

Related pages: Is Taiwan in the PCT?, power of attorney, deadlines at a glance and how long a Taiwan patent or trademark takes. See also our patent practice page.

For how we take instructions and report, see For Foreign Associates.