1. Requirements of the information of applicant
・Types of applicant
The applicant’s name, the nationality, the registered address and the type shall be stated in the request form. The types of applicants include Industrial and mining enterprise, University and college, scientific research unit, public institution and Individual. The type should be filled in the request form according to the actual situation of the applicant. In our experience, there are some applicants with the word “university” or “research institute” in their names, but they actually belong to Industrial and mining enterprises. For example, the applicants with the name of “University Technology PTE Ltd” or “Technology Research Institute Corporation”, should be classified as industrial and mining enterprises. To avoid filing in wrong information, it is best if the client can indicate the type of the applicant when entrusting.
・Chinese name of applicant
The applicant should record his Chinese name with the CNIPA at the same time of filing application. If the applicant has any Chinese name in use, it’s better to advise the agency of the Chinese name when entrusting. Of course, the applicant can also ask the agency to make the Chinese translation if he doesn’t have any Chinese name in use. We advise foreign applicants to use the same and unique Chinese name when filing applications in China.
English words should not be included in the applicant’s Chinese name as far as possible. It’s better to translate into Chinese completely to avoid any rejection issued by the CNIPA. However, if the applicant is a foreign individual, the initials in foreign language may be used in the Chinese translation of his name and the last name should be completely translated into Chinese. The initial of the first name shall be followed by a dot before the family name, such as M · Jones. Then, titles that were used to show any academic degree, occupation, etc., for example, “Dr.”, “Professor”, shall not be included in the applicant’s name.
・Address of applicant
The country and region in which the applicant is registered shall be stated in the request form and the detailed address in a foreign language shall be attached. If the applicant has no explicit instruction, the agency can only fill in the country and region when filing application. The advantage of this is that if the applicant’s address changes, as long as the country and region remain the same, there is no need to file a request for address change with the CNIPA. If the country and region where the applicant is located are changed, it’s better to file a request for address change with the CNIPA, and no supporting documents are required. For example, the address of the applicant is “105 Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia”, was recorded as “Victoria, Australia” in the request form when filing, if the applicant’s address is changed but the new address is still in “Victoria, Australia”, it’s unnecessary to file the request for address change with the Chinese CNIPA.
・Change of applicant
If the applicant claims priority when filing a patent application in China, the applicants of the application claiming the right of priority shall be the same as the applicant, or at least one of the applicants recorded in the certified copy of the previous application document. If the applicants of the two applications are entirely different or partially different, the document certifying the assignment of the right of the priority, signed or sealed by all of the applicants shall be submitted.
When entering a PCT application into the Chinese national phase, the applicant shall be the same as the PCT application. If the applicant changes (name change or right transfer), the application should be filed in the name of the changed applicant and the supporting documents are also required.
That is, if the applicant has changed when entering into the Chinese national phase, please inform the agency whether the change has been recorded with WIPO and whether the PCT/IB/306 form has been issued. If the applicant has not filed the change request, it is recommended that the applicant file the change request before the international bureau within 30-month deadline, and then, submit the supporting documents to the Chinese CNIPA. The fees for requesting change will not be incurred. If there is no enough time to file a change request before the international bureau, the supporting documents together with a request for changing the applicant should be submitted to the Chinese CNIPA, corresponding fees will be incurred.
2.Requirements of the information of inventor
In addition to the applicant’s information, the Chinese name of the inventor and the nationality of the first inventor also need to be recorded in the Chinese CNIPA. And the ID number of the first inventor who is Chinese is also required. If the Chinese inventor’s identification card is taken back for special reasons and the inventor doesn’t have an ID number, a declaration stating the reason, a copy of the existing identification documents as well as the application documents shall be filed with the Chinese CNIPA in paper form.
The name of the inventor should be accurately translated into Chinese. The initials in foreign language may be used in the Chinese translation of the inventor and his last name should be translated into Chinese completely. The surname and the first name are separated by dots, and the dots are placed in the middle. For example, David Mark SMITH can be translated into Chinese as “D·M·史密斯”. However, if the inventor use “-” in his name, he should use the same delimiter in his Chinese name. If the nationality of the inventor is Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore and other countries that use Chinese characters, it is best for the inventor to provide his Chinese name when entrusting.
Please note that the inventor’s Chinese name may be inconsistent with his name recorded in the PCT application when entering into Chinese national phase. For example, the inventor’s English name has three words, but his Chinese name has only two Chinese characters. The examiner may point out this problem. Then, the inventor needs to sign a declaration stating that the Chinese name in the request form is his correct Chinese name.
The above are the information requirements of the applicant and inventor when filing a patent application in China. The information must be filled in the request form while filing application. The clients are better to provide all the necessary information when entrusting. If some information cannot be obtained while entrusting, it should be provided before the deadline for filing application. Otherwise, the application cannot be filed, or the correction notification will be issued after filing, which will delay the time for the application to pass the preliminary examination.
