To encourage women to participate in creating inventions, on 17 June 2025, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office ("TIPO") announced the launch of the Pilot Program for Accelerated Examination of Invention Patent Applications Filed by Women, which was implemented on a trial basis for one year starting from 1 July 2025.  This program is applicable only to invention patent applications where the applicant, or one of the applicants, is a female natural person who is also the inventor or one of the inventors. To apply for accelerated examination under this program, the applicant must submit the request through the TIPO’s e-filing system after receiving the TIPO's notification of commencement of substantive examination and before the issuance of the first office action.  During the pilot period, the number of cases accepted under this program will be limited to 50 applications in total.  For the first two months, the monthly cap is 5 cases, and from the third month onward, the cap is 4 cases per month.  Additionally, each eligible female applicant may submit up to 5 applications under this program.

 

For applications that meet the program requirements, examiners will conduct accelerated examination and issue an office action or a decision of grant within 6 months from the date the request for accelerated examination is filed.  If the application does not meet the eligibility requirements, it will be placed in the regular examination queue for the same year, with the applicant being duly notified.