Patent Act Article 16

Recusal scenarios for patent examinersPatent examiners shall recuse themselves from any of the following conditions:1. where, for a concerned patent case, the patent examiner or his/her spouse is the patent applicant, patentee, invalidation requester, patent agent, a partner of the said patent agent or a person having employment relationship with the patent agent;2. where, for a concerned patent case, the patent examiner is presently related to the patent applicant, patentee, invalidation requester or the patent agent by consanguinity within the fourth degree or by affinity within the third degree;3. where, for a concerned patent case, the patent examiner or his/her spouse and the patent applicant, patentee or invalidation requester are co-obligees, co-obligors, or debt-paying co-obligors;4. where, for a concerned patent case, the patent examiner is or was the legal representative, the family head or a household member of the patent applicant, patentee or invalidation requester;5. where, for a concerned patent case, the patent examiner is or was the litigation agent or the assisting party of the patent applicant, patentee or invalidation requester; or6. where, for a concerned patent case, the patent examiner is or was a witness, an expert witness, an opposition requester or an invalidation requester.Where a patent examiner should have but did not exclude himself/herself from performing his/her duties, the Specific Patent Agency may, upon request or on its own authority, revoke the measure(s) already taken and adopt an alternative measure instead.