Covid-19 - Department of Intellectual Property and Extension of Time

On 24 March 2020, in response to the outbreak of Coronavirus/COVID-19, the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) issued its Notification concerning a request for extension of time and compliance with the laws under the DIP’s responsibility, i.e. the Patent Act, the Trademark Act, the Protection of Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits Act and the Protection of Geographical Identification Act.

This Notification allows an applicant – who is affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 and unable to submit a request or an application, or to take any action within the deadline prescribed by the laws or official instruction – to request for an extension of time for submission or to take action after the prescribed deadline has already passed.

In the request for time extension, the applicant is required to provide, clarify and justify valid reasons and evidence showing that they are affected by such outbreak, e.g. their workplace is in an affected area of COVID-19; they are under lockdown; they are quarantined according to the measure implemented by the Ministry of Public Health; they are undergoing medical treatment for infection from COVID-19; and the IP Department in their counties is temporarily closed, thus causing an unavailability for obtaining necessary documents within such period.

Said request and supporting evidence must be submitted to the DIP within 15 days after the difficulty/affecting situation has ended.

An applicant will be granted such time extension if the official in charge of each matter views that the applicant’s reason and supporting evidence are justifiable. Hence, the approval will rely significantly on the discretion of the official(s) in charge of each matter. To be on the safe side, it is advisable that the applicant submits their request with all of the supporting evidence by the prescribed deadline, rather than submitting such after the prescribed deadline has passed.