The French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on May 21, 2025, to collaborate under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). The Taiwan-France PPH program will take effect on July 1, 2025.
Under this bilateral framework, applicants who have received a favorable examination result from either TIPO or INPI may request accelerated examination with the other office. According to TIPO statistics, the average pendency for PPH requests in 2024 was 4.4 months, significantly shorter than the typical 14 to 15 months required for regular examination. This confirms that requesting accelerated examination under the PPH framework can significantly improve prosecution efficiency.
 between Taiwan [TIPO] and France [INPI] Effective July 1, 2025 - visual selection.png)
To file a PPH request with TIPO under the TIPO–INPI program, the following conditions and documentation are required:
I. Application Requirements:
- Same Earliest Filing Date:
The Taiwanese application and its corresponding French application must share the same earliest filing date (whether a priority date or a filing date).
- Allowable Claims in the French Application:
At least one or more claims in the French application must have been determined to be allowable/patentable by the INPI.
- Sufficient Claim Correspondence:
All claims in the Taiwanese application (both at the time of PPH filing and after any amendments) must sufficiently correspond to the allowable claims in the French application.
- No First Office Action Received Yet:
The Taiwanese application must have received a notice indicating substantive examination will begin, but has not yet received a first Office Action.
II. Required Documents:
- Office Actions of the French Application:
Copies and translations of all Office Actions issued by INPI if they are not in English. The translated copy could either be in Chinese or English.
- Allowable Claims and Their Translations:
Copies and translations of the claims are deemed allowable in the French application. The translated copy could either be in Chinese or English.
- Cited References:
All prior art references cited by INPI during examination formed the basis of their decisions.
- Claim Correspondence Table:
A table mapping the correspondence between the claims in the Taiwanese application and those deemed allowable in the French application.
For further information or inquiries regarding acceleration options, please feel free to contact us via email (jawhwa@jaw-hwa.com.tw).
|
