| Legislative： |
1.Promulgated on November 18, 2013; entered into force on December 2, 2013.
2.Promulgated on November 24, 2021; entered into force on January 1, 2022. |
| Content： |
1. In the implementation of the provision set forth in Paragraph 3, Article 26 of the Enforcement
Rules of the Patent Act, these Operational Directions are formulated to strengthen cooperation
between Taiwan and Japan, to provide convenience for applicants to claim priority, and to enhance
examination efficiency.
2. The Priority Document Exchange (PDX) Program refers to obtaining of priority document by
means of electronic exchange between the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter referred
to as “TIPO”) and the Japan Patent Office (hereinafter referred to as “JPO”) in the form of mutual
cooperation.
3. The terms used in these Operational Directions are defined as follows:
(1) Office of First Filing (OFF): the office where an applicant first files a patent application that
serves as the basis for a priority claim.
(2) Office of Second Filing (OSF): the office where the applicant, following the first application at
the OFF, files a subsequent patent application in respect of the same creation and claims priority on
the basis of the first application at the OFF.
(3) Access-Code: a code issued by the OFF allowing participating offices to obtain the applicant’s
first-filed patent application in electronic format and verify the application number, filing date,
patent type and other relevant information.
4. Operational procedures for TIPO as the OFF:
(1) The applicant that first files a patent application at TIPO may request for an access-code with the
office and use it to claim priority on the basis of the TIPO application while filing a subsequent
patent application at JPO.
(2) A request for the access-code to TIPO may be stated in the priority document request form or
filed electronically.
(3) TIPO does not charge any fees for this service.
(4) The applicant that subsequently files a patent application at JPO and claims priority on the basis
of the TIPO application may provide the access-code in place of priority document.
(5) After receipt of the TIPO-issued access-code from the applicant, JPO will proceed with its
operational procedures.
(6) After receipt of a list of the claimed priority from JPO, TIPO will verify the application number
and the access-code. Once completed, the office will then encrypt the priority document and send it
to JPO via regular postal service or the Internet.
5. Operational procedures for TIPO as the OSF:
(1) The applicant that claims priority on the basis of a JPO application at TIPO and provides the
office with the JPO-issued access-code within the following timeframes shall be deemed to have
provided the priority document within the stipulated time period:
(a)Invention patent or utility model patent applications：within 16 months after the earliest priority
date.
(b)Design patent applications：within 10 months after the earliest priority date.
(2) After receipt of the JPO-issued access-code from the applicant, TIPO will make a list of the
claimed priority containing the filing date, application number and patent type of the JPO
application, access-code, and other relevant information and send it to JPO via the Internet.
(3) After receipt of the list of the claimed priority from TIPO, JPO will proceed with its operational
procedures.
6. If the accurate priority document cannot be obtained in compliance with these Operational
Directions, TIPO will employ the following remedies:
(1) If the Internet server error, delivery inaccuracy and other factors not attributable to the applicant
result in the failure of the exchange, TIPO or JPO shall proceed with server repair or re-delivery of
the document. Once completed, the applicant shall be deemed to have provided the priority
document within the stipulated time period.
(2) If accountable for factors such as providing erroneous access-code or first-filed patent
application number that result in the failure of exchange, the applicant shall, after receipt of such
notification from TIPO, provide accurate access-code, first-filed patent application number, or paper
priority document within 2 months. The applicant that fails to do so within the specified time period
shall be deemed not to have provided the priority document.
7. Applications filed prior to the implementation date of these Operational Directions may also be
processed in accordance therewith.
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