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Article 20 Paragraph 1 Item 1 and Article 98 Paragraph 1 Item 1 of the Patent Law provide that an invention or utility model should not be regarded as novel if it has been published in the press or publicly used before a patent application is filed, except where such publication or use is for research or experimental purposes, and the application is filed within six months thereafter. Further, Article 20 Paragraph 1 Item 3 and Arti-cle 98 Paragraph 1 Item 3 of the law provide that an invention or utility model should not be re-garded as novel if it has been displayed at an exhibition before the patent application is filed, except where such display is at a govern-ment-sponsored or -recognized exhibition, and the patent application is filed within six months after the exhibition opening date.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), in its published Patent Examination Guidelines, sets out the following criteria for determining ques-tions of novelty arising out of participation in exhibitions:
Display differs from use; it suffices for the item merely to have been placed in public view where it can be viewed by unspecified persons.
Exhibition means a gathering for the display of objects or illustrations for a certain period for viewing by unspecified persons.
Already displayed at an exhibition means that an invention or utility model, expressed in the form of an object(s), illustration(s), etc., has been displayed at an exhibition during the ex-hibition period for viewing by unspecified persons. The length of time during which an item was so displayed, and whether the con-tent of the invention or utility model in ques-tion became known to unspecified persons, are immaterial.
Government-sponsored or -recognized exhibi-tion means one sponsored by the Government of the Republic of China (ROC) or approved, permitted or consented to by an agency of the ROC Government at any level.
With reference to the issue of novelty of items exhibited at exhibitions, the IPO issued the fol-lowing written explanations on 20 June 2000:
To conform with the principle of fairness to-wards countries with which the ROC has es-tablished reciprocity, and the principle of in-ternationalization, an government-sponsored or -recognized exhibition as referred to in the Patent Law should be limited to those where a government agency is named among the sponsors, or those organized with the assis-tance or at the mandate of a government agency.
If goods are publicly displayed for sale, this falls within the meaning of "published in the press or publicly used" as per Article 20 Paragraph 1 Item 1 and Article 98 Paragraph 1 Item 1 of the Patent Law. An exhibition as referred to in Paragraph 1 Item 3 of both arti-cles does not include an exhibition of goods for public sale.
