Pursuant to Article 36-1 to 36-6 of the Patent Law, the "Early disclosure of invention patents" system will be in force as of October 26, 2002. All invention patent applications will be published in the early disclosure gazette 18 months after the date of filing, except where they involve national defense secrets or other secrets affecting national security, where they are detrimental to public order or good morals, or they are withdrawn within 15 months of the filing date.

The Intellectual Property Office of the MOEA indicated that the "Early disclosure system" has limited application to new design and new utility model patents, as these patents are not as technically complex as invention patents, and their product life cycles are also much shorter. Therefore, for the present the "Early disclosure system" will only apply to invention patents.

As the "Early disclosure system" differs greatly from previous application procedures, the IPO has set out related questions ?such as Q&As, application procedure flowcharts (including procedural examination, pre-disclosure examination, substantive examination and priority examination procedures), and relevant provisions of the Patent Law (Articles 36-1 to 36-6), Regulations (Articles 24 to 26) and Fees Regulations (Article 3, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 to 3, and Paragraph 2) ?on its website: