No. The ROC (Taiwan) is not a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and therefore is unable to accept the PCT application. However, any applicant from a WTO member that files a patent application in Taiwan based on a PCT application and such PCT application designates any WTO members as the designated countries, may claim a right of priority if the PCT application is a legal application.
A patent is valid in individual countries for a specified time period. A patent application for the same creation that has been filed in another country can still be filed in the ROC (TAIWAN). However, if the same creation has been made public by the competent authority (e.g., Patent Office) of a country, it is not patentable in the ROC (TAIWAN) due to lack of novelty.
A patent applicant who has a residence or business office in the territory of the ROC (TAIWAN) can undertake all procedural steps before TIPO and is not required to appoint a representative.
On the other hand, a patent applicant who has no residence or business office in the territory of the ROC (TAIWAN) must be represented by a professional representative, such as a patent attorney or patent agent, and act through them in all proceedings.
An inventor, a utility model creator, a designer, or the assignee or successor thereof has the right to apply for a patent. However, if the creation is made by an employee in the course of performing job duties, only the employer thereof (such as a company) may apply for a patent.
