Taiwan is not a PCT Contracting State:how and when to file directly

Is Taiwan a PCT member?

No. Taiwan is not a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty. A PCT international application cannot be filed through Taiwan as a PCT receiving office, and Taiwan cannot be designated for national-phase entry from a PCT application.

If Taiwan protection is required, the applicant generally needs to file a separate domestic application directly with TIPO. That filing is not a PCT national-phase entry; it is an application governed by Taiwan patent law.

This does not answer the separate priority question. Although a PCT application cannot enter Taiwan’s national phase, a qualifying PCT application may, in limited circumstances, serve as the priority basis for a direct Taiwan filing.

Why can’t a PCT application enter the Taiwan national phase?

PCT national-phase entry is available only in PCT Contracting States or qualifying regional systems. Because Taiwan is outside that treaty framework, there is no 30- or 31-month PCT national-phase deadline for Taiwan.

The relevant timing analysis instead focuses on a direct Taiwan filing and, where applicable, international priority under Article 28 of the Taiwan Patent Act and related rules. This route is often called “Paris Convention priority,” but an earlier foreign filing does not by itself create priority in Taiwan; each Article 28 requirement must be tested. Taiwan applies statutory requirements involving WTO members, jurisdictions covered through WTO arrangements, and jurisdictions with reciprocal priority recognition, together with applicant, subject-matter, deadline, declaration, and document requirements.

How foreign applicants file a Taiwan patent directly with TIPO

• Confirm the Taiwan right to be filed — invention patent, utility model, or design. The priority period and filing materials differ; designs are not covered by the PCT and generally have a 6-month priority period.
• Confirm the earliest first application — its filing date, office, application number, applicants, and disclosed subject matter. If a PCT application claims priority to an earlier Japanese, U.S. provisional, European, or other national application, the Taiwan deadline is generally measured from that earlier first application, not from the later PCT filing date.
• Confirm international-priority eligibility under Article 28 of the Taiwan Patent Act: applicant eligibility, the jurisdiction and legal status of the priority application, identity of the invention or design, the statutory period, the priority declaration, and evidence. With multiple applicants, each applicant’s eligibility may need to be established; review any assignment or succession before filing.
• Confirm the Taiwan filing date is secured on time. Sending instructions, opening a file, or appointing Taiwan counsel does not itself secure a filing date — TIPO must accord one within the applicable period. If the Chinese translation is not ready, it may be possible to file first with a complete English or Japanese document.
• Confirm the appointment of a Taiwan representative. An applicant with no domicile or business establishment in Taiwan generally must appoint an agent; a Taiwan branch or representative office does not automatically settle the issue.

30-second decision table: what should you do now?

How are the 12- and 6-month Taiwan patent priority deadlines calculated?

The applicant must secure a filing date in Taiwan within the relevant period. Merely emailing instructions, transmitting documents, or completing an internal approval is not enough.

The Taiwan application must also concern the same invention, utility model, or design as the priority application. New matter added in the Taiwan filing does not automatically receive the earlier priority date. If multiple priorities are claimed, procedural deadlines for supporting documents may run from the earliest priority date.

These are general periods, not unconditional conclusions. The actual starting date, expiration date, holiday treatment, applicant eligibility, and filing status must be confirmed from the facts and the rules in force at the time.

Can a PCT application that is itself the first application serve as the Taiwan priority basis?

Potentially. A first application filed under the PCT or EPC may serve as the priority basis in Taiwan if it designates a WTO member or a jurisdiction that has reciprocal priority recognition with Taiwan and has the effect of a qualifying domestic application under the designated state’s law. TIPO guidance also indicates that, when priority is claimed from a PCT application, the receiving country or organization may be entered as “WO” or the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The result is not automatic. Counsel still needs to confirm applicant eligibility, the designated jurisdiction, domestic-application effect, identity of the invention, the statutory period, the priority declaration, and supporting evidence.

What if the PCT application claims an earlier national filing?

If a PCT application claims priority to an earlier Japanese filing, U.S. provisional application, or other national filing, Taiwan’s 12-month period generally continues to run from that earlier first application. Filing the PCT does not create a new 12-month period for Taiwan.

In either scenario, the Taiwan case is filed directly with TIPO. Even if the PCT application can support a priority claim, the Taiwan filing does not become a PCT national-phase application.

Taiwan patent filing deadlines at a glance

The 4-, 2-, and 4-month periods run from the Taiwan filing date. An applicant may request an extension with reasons, up to a maximum of 6 months from the filing date. The extension must be requested; it does not apply automatically.

When claiming international priority, the applicant must declare, at the time of filing: the filing date of the first application, the state or WTO member that received it, and its application number. Where the priority application is a PCT application, TIPO guidance permits “WO” or the World Intellectual Property Organization to be entered as the receiving country or organization. Failure to state the date of the first application or the receiving state or WTO member is deemed a waiver of the priority claim (Article 29, Paragraph 3); the application number is not subject to that consequence but must still be stated correctly.

If the failure to declare priority at filing — or a defective declaration that is deemed no claim of priority — was unintentional, the applicant may apply to restore the priority claim within 16 months of the earliest priority date, paying the fee and completing the declaration (Article 29, Paragraph 4). This restores only the priority declaration; it does not extend or revive a missed 12-month or 6-month Taiwan filing deadline.

Failure to supply the Chinese translation within the prescribed period may result in the application not being accepted. If a translation is filed only before an adverse disposition, the translation filing date may become the Taiwan filing date, potentially affecting priority.

Can an applicant file in English or Japanese first and submit Chinese later?

Yes. An invention, utility model, or design application may first be filed using documents in a foreign language accepted by TIPO, and the applicant may then submit a complete Traditional Chinese translation within the prescribed period. English and Japanese are accepted languages.

Chinese claims are therefore not necessarily required on the Taiwan filing date. However, the later Chinese text must be accurate and complete and may not extend beyond the disclosure of the original foreign-language document. TIPO examines the case on the basis of the Chinese text, and the Chinese claims are critical to the scope of protection.

The foreign-language filing route provides time for translation; it does not cure an incomplete source document, and a priority certificate alone is not enough.

Japan–Taiwan PDX for Japanese priority applications

For a Taiwan application claiming priority to a Japanese filing, inventions, utility models, and designs may use the Japan–Taiwan electronic exchange of priority documents (PDX); designs were added to the program on January 1, 2022.

• Obtain the priority document access code from the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
• Declare the date of the first application, its application number, and the receiving state in the Taiwan application.
• Provide the access code to TIPO so it can retrieve the priority document electronically.
• If the exchange succeeds, no separate paper certified copy is required. If the code is unavailable at filing, supply it within 16 months of the earliest priority date (inventions, utility models) or 10 months (designs).

Taiwan–U.S. PDX for U.S. priority applications

TIPO and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched the Taiwan–U.S. electronic priority document exchange program on September 4, 2026. When a U.S. application is the priority basis for a Taiwan filing, the applicant may obtain an access code from the USPTO and ask TIPO to retrieve the priority document electronically. If the exchange succeeds, a separate paper certified copy is generally unnecessary.

If the access code is known when the Taiwan application is filed, the applicant should select electronic exchange in the TIPO request and provide the U.S. filing date, application number, U.S. application type, and access code. If the code is not yet available, it must still be supplied within the applicable document period — generally 16 months from the earliest priority date for inventions and utility models, or 10 months for designs.

The access code is a document-exchange mechanism. It does not extend the 12-month invention or utility model priority period or the 6-month design period.

How WISECODE handles your Taiwan filing

• Earliest-priority and deadline check before instructions are sent
• Direct TIPO filing with an international-priority claim
• Foreign-language filing to secure the date, followed by Chinese translation
• Japan–Taiwan and Taiwan–U.S. PDX access-code handling
• Patent-type strategy: invention, utility model or design
• Examination, office-action responses and annuity maintenance