Center for Technology Licensing and Patenting

1. Patentability of an invention

The invention should be novel, useful and non-obvious. It should be a patentable subject matter for industrial application.  An inventive step should be involved.

2. Publication before filing a patent

The patent should be filed before publication. A grace period may exist for protecting the inventor from disclosure of the invention before the filing date. In Taiwan, the grace period is 6 months. In United States, the grace period is 12 months. There is no grace period in European countries.

3. Invention disclosure and internal patent application process

Please submit the application form (No. D00501-D00505) to the Center for Technology Licensing and Patenting (CTLP). All the forms can be downloaded from the website of CTLP. An internal technical review will be conducted for each application. Oral presentation to the Presidential Committee is required for applying foreign patent protection.

4. Cost of filing a patent

It typically costs about NT$300,000 to NT$500,000 to file a foreign patent application. The cost for filing a Taiwan patent is about NT$30.000. If the know-how of the patent was generated from a project funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), participating Inventors would pay 10% of all direct costs during patent application. Otherwise inventors would pay 20% of the direct cost. Inventors would share 80% of cost for maintaining patent rights.

5. Distribution of technology licensing royalties

The royalties of technology licensing should be offset by the reward given to the research funding agencies. The remaining royalties defined as the net royalties shall be divided between the inventors and the University as follows:

The first NT$1000,000 of net royalties
70% to the inventors

30% to the University

Net royalties between NT$1,000,000 and NT$5,000,000
60% to the inventors

40% to the University

Net royalties exceeding NT$5,000,000

50% to the inventors

50% to the University