In Taiwan, submission of mere foreign language patent application documents, i.e., a specification, claims and/or drawings, could obtain a filing date of the relevant patent application. Patent application documents in Chinese (traditional characters) meeting the formality requirements legally specified under the Patent Rules are allowed to be filed within six months from the filing date at the latest.
 
As to the formality requirements for foreign language patent application documents, the previous Regulations provided that a (certified) patent priority document or a patent gazette reference in a foreign language was not allowed to serve as a foreign language patent application document, as each of the priority and application documents had to meet specific formality requirements. However, in recent years patent examination scenarios around the world have largely changed to streamline the proceedings in an attempt to encourage research and development as well as improve efficiency. In view of recent international patent provisions and patent legislations in some foreign countries, there are no specific formality requirements for a foreign language application documents. In fact, most foreign language application documents (e.g., specifications and claims) may be derived, with simple alterations, from the relevant priority documents and/or patent gazette references in foreign languages. Therefore, there is no merit for such formality restriction that a foreign language priority document (or patent gazette reference) could not serve as a foreign language application document. Accordingly, the TIPO repealed the relevant restriction provision in 2016.
 

Reference:修正發布「專利以外文本申請實施辦法」第5條、第6條修正條文, Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (June 30, 2016). Retrieved December 27, 2016,
from http://www.tipo.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=594668&ctNode=7452&mp=1
[1] Chief in Patent Division