In view of the impressive results of the Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program which ended on June 30, 2020, Taiwan and South Korea agreed to launch a permanent PPH program which went effective July 1, 2020. The permanent program continues to provide applicants with stable and convenient PPH services.

Taiwan and Korea have been close economic and trading partners. For long years, Korea has made the top four countries in invention patent applications filed in Taiwan. In 2019, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office received a total of 1,656 invention patent applications from Korean applicants. On the other hand, the Korea Intellectual Property Office received 1,102 invention patent applications from Taiwanese applicants. To speed up examination so that applicants could acquire their patents quickly, both offices had conducted the PPH pilot program since July 1, 2015.

Johnny Chan