The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office announced that the revisions for green patents took effect on January 1, 2022. These revisions were made in an effort to promote research, development and commercialization of green patents in Taiwan. The Inventions Related to Green Energy Technologies (Condition 4) was added to the AEP as follows:
- The term green energy technologies was amended to read green technologies in order to clarify that eligible patent applications are not limited to green energy only.
- The scope of eligibility has been expanded to include energy-saving, carbon emission reduction, and resource-saving technologies.
- For requests on the grounds of ‘essential to commercial exploitation’ and ‘inventions related to green technologies’, examination results will be issued within 6 months (down from 9 months previously). As of July 2021, 255 AEP requests have been filed for green technology patents, and Taiwanese applicants have filed the majority at 88% with solar energy, LED lighting and lithium-ion battery technologies being the top fields