Supreme Administrative Court Said Priority Date Claimed Must Not Pre-date Reciprocity Start Date.

According to the Supreme Administrative Court, the priority date claimed by a foreign-national patent applicant must not predate the start date of reciprocity between Taiwan and the applicant’s home country or Taiwan’s accession to the WTO (1 January 2002).  By this reason, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) dismissed ASML’s administrative action on its priority date claim.  ASML, a Dutch corporation, is the largest European manufacturer of advanced technology systems for the semiconductor industry.

 

ASML initiated multiple administrative lawsuits on priority date claims.  Most of the actins were dismissed.  The SAC judgment which is final with binding effects will serve as a directive for deciding on actions initiated by foreign-national patent applicants on their priority date claims.

 

ASML filed an invention patent application with TIPO on 20 March 2002 claiming an EPC priority date of 21 May 2001.  TIPO denied ASML’s priority date claim.

 

ASML said Taiwan became a WTO member state on 1 January 2002 and so applicants from WTO member states including the Netherlands EU countries may claim priority date by operation of a treaty or agreement on reciprocity.  Therefore, ASML said, ASML is entitled to claim the filing date of its EPC filing which is deemed a patent application filed in the Netherlands, one of designated EPC member states under that EPC application.

 

Under the Taiwan Patent Act, priority date claims are accepted on reciprocal basis.  TIPO maintains that the priority date claimed by a foreign-national applicant whose home country has a reciprocity agreement with Taiwan must not predate the published start date of the reciprocity between the two countries.  Where the applicant is the national or quasi national of a WTO member state or a quasi-national of a country having entered into a reciprocity agreement with Taiwan, the priority date claimed must not predate 1 January 2002.  (2006.9)

/EMA