Accelerated Examination Program for Re-examination
Starting September 1, TIPO introduced the Accelerated Examination Program for Re-examination (AEPRe), a one-year pilot program designed to expedite the re-examination stage of invention patent applications. The program accelerates the process when applicants agree to amend their applications by deleting rejected claims and reorganizing the allowed ones as independent claims. Under the AEPRe, examiners focus on the conclusions from the first examination stage, significantly reducing review time. Once an application enters AEPRe, applicants can expect to receive an office action or decision within six months. The program requirements are as follows.
1. Eligibility: Applicable to re-examined applications where some claims are rejected while others are allowable.
2. Timing: Requests can be made from the issuance of the notice of re-examination entry until the first Office action for re-examination is issued. In view of such, the applicant shall not request at the time applying for re-examination but only later.
3. Amendment: Applicants wishing to use AEPRe must agree to amend the claims by:
(1) Deleting the claims rejected during the first examination.
(2) Reorganizing the allowable dependent claims into independent claims. Necessary adjustments, including new claim numbering, dependency restructuring, or the addition of new dependent claims, are permitted
If an AEPRe request fails to meet any of the requirements—such as eligibility, timing, or amendments—the TIPO will deny the request and notify the applicant accordingly. In such cases, the application will not enter the AEPRe program and will proceed through the regular re-examination process. Conversely, if an application qualifies for AEPRe, the TIPO will not issue a separate notification but will instead deliver either an Office action or a decision within six months. There is no additional official fee for requesting for AEPRe.
AEPRe primarily focuses on rejections related to issues such as novelty or inventiveness identified during the first examination. Generally, it does not address unity issues.
Examples of the permissible amendments under the AEPRe are as follows.
1. Deletion of rejected claims
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Rejection |
Claims 1 to 7 are rejected for being obvious over the cited reference. |
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1. An apparatus…, comprising A. (A) … 8. An apparatus, comprising A and C. (A+C) 9. The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein… 10. The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein… |
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Amendment for AEPRe |
Cancel Claims 1 to 7; Re-number the rest of allowable claims. |
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1. An apparatus, comprising A and C. (A+C) 2. The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein… 3. The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein… |
2. Re-organization of allowable dependent claims to independent claims
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Rejection |
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected for being obvious over the cited reference. |
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1. An apparatus…, comprising A. (A) 2. The apparatus of Claim 1, further comprising B… (A+B) 3. The apparatus of Claim 1, further comprising C… (A+C) 4. The apparatus of Claim 2, further comprising D… (A+B+D) |
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Amendment for AEPRe |
Cancel Claims 1 and 2; Re-number the rest of allowable claims and add new dependent claims. |
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1. An apparatus, comprising A and C. (A+C) 2. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein… 3. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein… 4. An apparatus, comprising A, B, and D. (A+B+D) 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein… |
