What inventor identity information must be provided in a patent application request form under the revised Chinese Patent Examination Guidelines?

Based on practice following the implementation of the revised Guidelines on January 1, 2026, the requirements can be summarized as follows:

  1. Inventors of non-Chinese nationality: nationality must be provided. An identification number is not required.
  2. Inventors of Chinese nationality: both nationality (China) and a Chinese ID card number must be provided.
  3. Inventors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: the nationality field should state “Chinese Hong Kong”, “Chinese Macao” or “Chinese Taiwan”, respectively. An ID card number is not required.

These requirements apply to all inventors named in the application, not only the first inventor.