JAW-HWA INTERNATIONAL PATENT & TRADEMARK & LAW OFFICES

Taiwan Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) – 2025 Update

[ September 25, 2025 ] >Back

1. Overview of Patent Acceleration Programs
Taiwan currently offers 3 main patent acceleration programs to expedite patent examination and enhance global competitiveness:

AEP (Accelerated Examination Program): Provides multiple qualifying conditions to fast-track invention patent examination.
PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway): Leverages patent allowance or favorable examination results from participating international patent offices to accelerate examination in Taiwan or partner offices.
TW-SUPA (TW-Support Using the PPH Agreement): An enhanced support scheme utilizing PPH agreements to further accelerate patent prosecution.

2. Introduction to Taiwan’s PPH Programs

Normal PPH:
Applicants whose claims have been allowed by the Office of First Filing (OFF) may request accelerated examination in the Office of Second Filing (OSF). The OSF can utilize the search and examination results from the OFF to avoid duplication and speed up examination.
Enhanced PPH (PPH MOTTAINAI):
This enhanced framework allows an applicant to request accelerated examination at either office, regardless of where the application was first filed, as long as one of the offices has already determined one or more claims to be allowable.

Most of TIPO's PPH agreements use this MOTTAINAI framework. This is a significant advantage because it offers applicants greater flexibility, as it doesn't matter which country the application was first filed in.

3. Taiwan’s PPH Partner Countries

Partner Office	PPH Type	Effective Date	Filing Window	Official Fee	Key Requirements & Document Checklist	Special Notes
USPTO (USA)	Normal PPH	2012-09-01	After TIPO’s substantive examination notice and before first OA	None	US priority claim or same PCT priority US allowed claims Full office actions References cited by the examiner Claim correspondence table - all Taiwan claims must correspond	TIPO can retrieve US OA online Divisionals allowed
JPO (Japan)	MOTTAINAI PPH	2020-05-01	Same as above	None	Same earliest priority/filing date JPO allowed claims Full office actions and translations References cited by the examiner Claim correspondence table	Bidirectional and divisionals allowed
KIPO (Korea)	MOTTAINAI PPH	2020-07-01	Same as above	None	Same priority date At least one allowed claim in KIPO Full office actions and translation References cited by the examiner Claim correspondence table	Public official references sufficient
SPTO (Spain)	MOTTAINAI PPH	2016-04-15	Same as above	None	Same priority date Spain allowed claims Full office actions and translation References cited by the examiner Claim correspondence table	-
PPO (Poland)	MOTTAINAI PPH	2017-08-01	Same as above	None	Same priority date Poland allowed claims Full office actions and translation References cited by the examiner Claim correspondence table	-
CIPO (Canada)	MOTTAINAI PPH	2018-01-01	Same as above	None	Same priority date Canada allowed claims Full office actions and translation References cited by the examiner Claim correspondence table	-
INPI (France)	MOTTAINAI PPH	2025-07-01	Same as above	None	Same priority date France allowed claims Full office actions and translation References cited by the examiner Claim correspondence table	Divisionals allowed

4. Application Procedure and Notes

When to Apply:
► Submit PPH requests after receiving the substantive examination notification from TIPO and before the first office action is issued.

► PPH requests cannot be made at the same time as filing the request for substantive examination, or the PPH request will be rejected. Applicant must submit the PPH request after receiving the substantive examination notification from TIPO.

► If the application has already requested Accelerated Examination Program (AEP), the applicant can still file a PPH request. In that case, TIPO will only proceed with the application under the PPH program. Applications under the PPH program will receive examination results faster than those under AEP.
Required Documents:
• PPH request form
• Copies of all relevant foreign office actions and translations
• Copies of allowed claims and translations
• Examination references cited by foreign patent examiners
• Claim correspondence tables mapping Taiwan application claims to foreign allowed claims
Fees:
No official fees are required for PPH applications.
Scope and Restrictions:
• Only invention patents qualify.
• All Taiwanese claims must fully correspond (same or narrower) to the claims allowed by the partner office; no broadened or new claims are permitted.
• Late or incomplete submissions will be processed under regular procedures rather than accelerated.

5. Summary

The PPH MOTTAINAI framework fosters streamlined and accelerated patent examination, reducing duplicated efforts and improving global patent portfolio strategies. Applicants should ensure compliance with documentation and timing requirements to maximize the benefits of expedited processing.

For further information or inquiries regarding PPH programs, please feel free to contact us via email (jawhwa@jaw-hwa.com.tw).