(1)     Time for request

After the TIPO notifies the applicant that the design application will soon be undergoing substantive examination and before the applicant receives the first Official Letter. 

(2)     How to file the request

The pilot program is applicable only to electronic applications in accordance with the TIPO’s regulations, and the required documents should be enclosed when submitting the request. During the pilot period, no official fee is required. 

(3)     Conditions for requesting AEP

Under Condition 1, the applicant should provide evidence relevant to the commercial implementation by a third party, such as product catalogs, newspaper and magazine articles, etc., and should state the information of the third party, implementation behavior and the start of the implementation.

Under Condition 2, the applicant should provide award certificates showing the applicant’s name and the corresponding certification documents of the winning design. The following design awards are accepted under this condition.

♦    Golden Pin Design Award (Taiwan)
♦    iF Design Award (Germany)
♦    Red Dot Design Award (Germany)
♦    Good Design Award (Japan)
♦    International Design Excellence Awards, IDEA (USA)

Under Condition 3, each startup company is limited to three applications in the same year. 

Startup companies which have been registered and established under the Company Law of Taiwan or under the laws of a foreign country for less than eight years are eligible for the pilot program. A startup company’s incorporation period is calculated from the date of incorporation of the company to the date of filing the design patent application and should be less than eight years. If a priority claim is made, the calculation of the aforementioned period shall be based on the earliest priority date.

If the applicant is a foreign company, the certification document for the date of establishment of the foreign company should be provided along with its Chinese translation. If the certification document is not the original, an affidavit should be provided.