Filing Patent
Application in China
Please be advised that, in China, there are three types
of patents, they are: invention, utility model and design.
An invention patent has 20 years of protection term and
needs substantive examination on patentability before
issuing a patent. A utility model patent is like a small
patent in some countries, which does not need substantive
examination on patentability but only preliminary
examination on formality and has a ten-year protection term.
It likes a registration procedure for utility model
patents.All filing documents and formal communications with
the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the Patent
Re-examination Board must be in Chinese.
Invention means any new technical solution relating to a
product, a process or improvement thereof.
Utility model means any new technical solution relating to
the shape, the structure, or their combination of a product,
which is fit for practical use.
Design means any new design of the shape, the pattern or
their combination, or the combination of the color with
shape or pattern of a product, which creates an aesthetic
feeling and is fit for industrial application.
When a patent application is filed in China through our
associate office, the following documents are required:
◆ A letter of
instructions indicating the type of the application to be
applied for, e.g. a Patent for Invention, a Patent for
Utility Model or a Patent for Design; the name (s),
address(es) and nationality(ies) of applicant(s) and
inventor(s); the filing date(s), country(ies) and serial
number(s) of the convention patent application or patent
based on which the priority right(s) is(are) to be claimed,
if any;
◆ A description, claims
and an abstract;
◆ Drawings (if necessary
for describing the invention); and a designated figure
attached to abstract;
◆ Power of Attorney
signed by the applicant(s), which is neither necessarily
notarized nor legalized and can be late furnished after
filing within the time limit specified by China Patent
Office;
◆ For entry into national
phase in China of an international application under PCT
rules and regulations , international publication pamphlet,
international preliminary examination report with annex and
any amendment concerned if the applicant would like to bring
such amendments into the examiner’s consideration during the
examination on the application in China;
◆ Certified priority
document(s), which must be submitted to China Patent Office
within three months form the Chinese filing date in case of
claim(s) for priority, or the claim(s) to the priority right
shall be deemed not to have been made;
◆ Assignment of priority
right either in the original form of it signed before the
Chinese filing date or a notarized or certified copy of the
original, if the applicant(s) for the Chinese application
is(are) different from the former applicant(s) recorded in
the priority document(s), which must be submitted to the
Patent Office within three months from the Chinese filing
date;
◆ For application
relating to micro-organisms, if the micro-organism concerned
is not available to the public, a sample of said
micro-organism should be deposited with an international
depository qualified under “Budapest Treaty on the
International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms
for the Purpose of Patent Procedure” before the date of
filing, or at the latest on the date of filing. Since China
has become bound by the Budapest Treaty, the applicant, who
has already deposited the sample of micro-organism with the
depository institution designated by the Treaty, may submit
a copy of the certificate of deposit supplied by that
institution within 4 months from the filing date instead of
making deposition with the Chinese depository institution.
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