Taiwan and the United States have started swapping patent paperwork electronically, good news for companies filing for patents on both sides.

• Taiwan's IP office and the US Patent and Trademark Office now trade priority documents directly, so applicants no longer mail paper proof.
• The US is by far the top destination for Taiwanese patent filings, with about 20,000 applications a year.
• American filers send about 7,000 patent applications to Taiwan each year, making them the second-biggest foreign group.
• The deal follows a data-security agreement signed by Taiwan's representative office in Washington and the American Institute in Taiwan.
• Taiwan already runs the same system with Japan and South Korea, started back in 2013.

Outlook: Filing costs and delays should drop for firms working both markets, and Taiwan is likely to push for similar deals with more patent offices.