New Trademark Agent Requirements

The new Taiwan Trademark Act, which stipulates new trademark agent qualifications and the Regulations Governing Trademark Agent Registration and Management, took effect on May 1, 2024. All qualified trademark agents must register before the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office to represent owners with their trademark applications.

Foreign trademark applicants should pay special attention to these key points:

Becoming a Qualified Trademark Agent

Any professional who can legally handle trademark-related matters (such as a lawyer) can become a qualified trademark agent. Otherwise, it can be done by meeting any of the following qualifications:

1. Successfully passing the Trademark Professional Capability Certification Examination;

2. Successfully working in the Registrar’s Office and being responsible for trademark examination work for more than 10 years; or

3. Continuously having represented and handled no fewer than 10 trademark registration cases or other procedural applications annually during the three years preceding the implementation of the new Taiwan Trademark Act.

It is necessary to apply to register as a trademark agent before the Registrar’s Office within one year from May 1, 2024, when the new Trademark Act took effect.

Annual On-the-Job Training 

A trademark agent must complete a minimum of six hours of on-the-job training annually to represent clients in trademark-related matters.

If a trademark agent fails to meet the minimum requirements for annual on-the-job training hours, the Registrar’s Office shall notify the agent to complete the requirement within three months. Those who do not meet the requirement within the time allotted may be suspended from business for a minimum of six months to a maximum of one year. If the requirement has still not been satisfied after the expiration of the suspension of business actions, the trademark agent’s registration will be revoked.

If the Original Agent Becomes Unqualified

A foreign applicant must appoint another qualified trademark agent if the original agent’s registration is canceled, revoked, or suspended.

A trademark agent should notify the foreign applicant regarding the cancellation, revocation, and suspension of the trademark agent’s registration.

For those cases that have not yet been decided, the Registrar’s Office must notify the agent and the applicant of the agent’s status as unqualified. If the applicant has no domicile or business establishment in the territory of Taiwan, another qualified trademark agent will be appointed within a limited period. Otherwise, the trademark applications or other proceedings will be inadmissible.

The Registrar’s Office maintains the Trademark Agent Register, where registrations of trademark agents, changes, and related matters are entered and made available to the public.

This article first appeared in the INTA Bulletin and was reprinted with permission from the International Trademark Association (INTA).

The complete PDF file of this article, published on INTA's website, is available at the following link.

New Trademark Agent Requirements.pdf

Download PDF • 192KB