table of contents
1. XNUMX.Introduction
TaiwanBelow is information that will help you protect your design rights.
We hope that this page will be of assistance to you in protecting your intellectual property overseas. Please help us.
<Average review period>
The first action (notice of refusal, etc.) takes place approximately six months from the date of filing, and the final decision (registration or refusal) takes place approximately nine months from the date of filing.
2. Design rights in Taiwan
A. Design
Under the Design Act, a design is defined as "a creation that appeals to the visual sense and is the shape, pattern, color, or combination of these of all or part of an article."
The following designs are also eligible for protection:
- (1) Design of set
Where two or more articles belong to the same Locarno Classification class and are customarily sold or used as a set, one design may be filed. - (2) Graphical User Interface
- (3) Computer Icon
- (4) Partial design
- (5) Related designs
・A design similar to the original design (related design) is created by the applicant for the original design registration
- The related design application must be filed after the filing date of the original design and before the publication of the original design.
B. Application documents, etc.
- (1) Application
- Name, address and nationality of the creator and applicant. Classification of the design according to the Locarno Agreement
- Priority claim information (only if claimed; country name, application date, application number, etc.) - (2) Description
- A brief description of the name of the product related to the design, the purpose of the product, a description of the design, and if the appearance of the product changes, the change in the state of use, etc.
- The disclosure is clear and sufficient so that a person skilled in the art can understand and implement the contents.
・If it is a part, the name of the item into which the part is incorporated must also be stated. - (3) Drawings
-Written so that a person skilled in the art can understand and implement the design
i) Image design
It is not necessary to show in the drawings the monitor, display panel, or other object on which the image design is displayed.
ii) Image design displayed on specific products
The article on which the image design appears must be depicted with reference to the method of expressing the partial design.
iii) *Image designs with three-dimensional shapes or images displayed in a special form
It may be represented in a perspective view or other drawing.
*Image designs that have three-dimensional display characteristics created using 3D projection, VR, etc.
ⅳ) Image design with changing appearance
The change situation must be expressed in multiple drawings. There can be more than one representative drawing. - (4) Priority certificate
- Submit within 10 months from the priority date
C. Requirements for Registrability of Designs
- (1) Unity of design
- Single design, single design application. If two or more designs are filed in one application, a divisional application is possible. - (2) Visibility
- It is required to be observed by the user or consumer at some point during the product's life.
- Microscopic objects can also be protected (fine cuts in jewellery or LEDs). - (3) Industrial applicability
- The design meets the definition of a design
The design is not purely artistic or artistic work. - (4) Novelty
- Judgment criteria: publicly known and used domestically and abroad
- The design must not be identical or similar to any other design applied for by another person prior to the filing date
- Six-month grace period due to the application of the exception to loss of novelty
1. Published in a publication
②Exhibition at a government-sponsored exhibition or government-approved exhibition
3) Leakage against the applicant's will - (5) Impossibility of creation
- (6) Other major reasons for non-registration
- Purely functional design
- Designs that harm public order and morals or public health
D. Review Principle
- After filing a design application, the application automatically undergoes formal and substantive examination without the need to file a request for examination.
- A refusal may be appealed to the Ministry of Economic Affairs within 30 days.
- There is an invalidation trial system.
E. Duration
- 15 years from the date of design application(Design rights arise on the publication date of the grant of the design)
- The duration of the design right of the related design is the same as the duration of the design right of the original design.
F. Treaties
The status of membership in the main treaties is as follows:
| treaty of paris | WTO agreement | hague agreement | Locarno Agreement |
| Not a member | Join | Not a member | Not a member |