95 articles
Searching Figurative Trademarks by Image
Question: When conducting a similarity search for a figurative trademark on the China Trademark Website of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), can a trademark image file be uploaded to perform the search?
Time Limits for Changing Inventors
Question: What are the time limits for changing inventors in a Chinese patent application? Will a request filed after the prescribed deadline necessarily be refused?
Inventor Identity Information in Patent Applications
Question: What inventor identity information must be provided in a patent application request form under the revised Chinese Patent Examination Guidelines?
Refunds of Duplicate or Excess Patent Fees
Question: In China, if the annual fee for a patent has been paid more than once, is it possible to apply for a refund?
Foreign Evidence of Prior Public Use in Invalidation Proceedings
Question: I would like to file an invalidation request against a certain patent, relying on evidence of prior public use to argue that the patent lacks novelty. However, the evidence of prior public use is not from China, but from the United States and Europe. Would such evidence obtained outside China be disqualified or disregarded by the Chinese examiner?
How to claim priority in trademark registration applications in China?
Question: How to claim priority in trademark registration applications in China?
Requesting Deferred Patent Examination
Question: I would like to request a deferred examination for a Chinese invention application, hoping to postpone the examination as much as possible. Is there a way to do so? If yes, what is the maximum duration for which the examination can be deferred?
Assignment Documents at PCT National Phase Entry
Question: A PCT application is going to enter the Chinese national phase, and the applicants were two Japanese companies A and B when filing the PCT application. However, at the PCT international stage, the procedure of change of applicants was carried out, and the application was transferred from companies A and B to company A, then the International Bureau (IB) issued the Notification of Change (Form PCT/IB/306). In this case, is it still necessary to submit the documents proving the transfer of the application right to the CNIPA when entering the Chinese national phase?
Obtaining Documents from Chinese Patent Files
Question: Can a third party access the “statement of opinion” for a Chinese application through the Chinese Patent Examination Information Inquiry System (https://cpquery.cponline.cnipa.gov.cn/)?
Service of Trademark Non-Use Notices on Foreign Registrants
Question: In non-use cancellation cases where the registrant of the mark is a foreign entity, to whom will the China Trademark Office send “the Notice of Providing Evidence of Use”?
Combining Patent Term Adjustment and Extension
Question: If a patent qualifies for both patent term adjustment (PTA) and pharmaceutical patent term extension (PTE) under Article 42 of the Chinese Patent Law, must the patentee choose one, or can both periods be added together?
Online Trademark Searches by Foreign Applicants
Question: Can foreign applicants search trademark information on the website of China Trademark Office?
Online Software Copyright Registration
Question: It is said that in China, software copyright registrations are handled online from June 1, 2023, and the China Copyright Protection Center (CPCC) will no longer accept mailed materials for software copyright registration from June 1. After the software copyright registration becomes paperless, what is the requirement on the applicant's signature? Can electronic seals or electronic signatures be used in uploaded application materials?
Preliminary Approval and Registration Announcements
Question: What is the difference between trademark preliminary approval announcement and registration announcement in China?
Service of Non-Use Notices for Madrid Trademarks
Question: I have a Madrid international registered trademark and obtain the extension protection in China. Now someone has filed a cancellation application against the mark in China based on the ground of non-use for three consecutive years, to whom will the Chinese Trademark Office send the Notification of Submission of Proof of Use?
Deadlines Falling on Holidays or Adjusted Working Days
Question: If the expiration date of a time limit is a statutory holiday or a weekend that is adjusted to be a working day, how should the expiration date be determined?
Patent Prosecution Highway Examination Times
Question: How Fast is the Patent Prosecution Highway in China?
Invalidation Deadlines After Trademark Opposition
Question: According to Article 45 of the Chinese Trademark Law, the period for filing a request for invalidation of a registered trademark is five years from the date of registration of the trademark. We would like to know, for the trademark registered after the opposition procedure, how to determine the starting date of the five years (i.e., the date of registration)?
Remedies When Patent Rights Restoration Is Refused
Question: If the CNIPA refuses a request for restoration of patent rights and the party disagrees with that decision, what remedies are available?
Correcting Errors in Trademark Documents
Question: If there are obvious errors in the trademark application documents or trademark registration documents, can they be amended?
Activities of Foreign Patent Agency Representative Offices
Question: Are resident representative offices of foreign patent agencies in China allowed to engage in Chinese patent affairs such as acting for patent applications or invalidating patent rights?
Patent Term Adjustment for Examination Delays
Question: In order to make up for the loss of the patent term caused by the unreasonable delay in the substantive examination of the invention patent, can we request compensation for the patent term?
Claiming Priority from a US Provisional Application
Question: I want to know if a US provisional application could be used as a priority for a Chinese patent application?
Time Limits for Further Divisional Applications
Question: An examiner has identified a lack of unity in a divisional application. When must the applicant file a further divisional application in response to the examiner’s opinion?
Patent Annuity Periods and Payment Queries
Question: How are patent years calculated for annual fee payments in China? Can payment information be checked on the CNIPA website?
Trademark Examination and Review Standards
Question: Do the Trademark Office’s Examination Department and Review Department apply different standards when assessing trademark applications?
Calculating the Non-Use Period for International Trademarks
Question: How to determine the three-year period for a cancellation request against a registered international trademark on the ground of non-use for three consecutive years?
Scope of Provisional Patent Protection
Question: If the protection scope claimed by the applicant at the time of publication of the invention patent application is inconsistent with the protection scope of the patent right at the time of the announcement of grant of the invention patent, how to determine that the doer has exploited the patent during the temporary protection period (i.e. the period from the date of publication of the invention patent application to the date of announcement of grant of the invention patent)?
Foreign Nationals and China’s Patent Attorney Examination
Question: Are foreigners allowed to take the Chinese patent bar exam?
Amendments in Multi-Class Trademark Applications
Question: A trademark application covers three classes, but the Trademark Office requires an amendment to the identification of goods in only one class. If the amendment is not filed or is not accepted, will the other two classes be affected?
Obtaining Paper Patent Certificates
Question: I heard China Patent Office would cease issuing Paper Patent Certificates. If we want the Paper Patent Certificates, how to get it?
Questions and Answers on China’s Centralized Patent Examination System
Question: 1. What is "centralized examination"?
Can a Trademark Consent Letter Be Found Through the Trademark Office’s Website?
Question: Can a Trademark Consent Letter Be Found Through the Trademark Office’s Website?
How Can I Check Whether a Chinese Patent Licence Has Been Recorded?
Question: How Can I Check Whether a Chinese Patent Licence Has Been Recorded?
Does China Provide Punitive Damages for Trade Secret Infringement?
Question: Does China Provide Punitive Damages for Trade Secret Infringement?
Which country/region has launched the Collaborative Search Pilot Program (CSP) with China?
Question: Which country/region has launched the Collaborative Search Pilot Program (CSP) with China?
Can a PCT Application Enter China as Both an Invention and a Utility Model?
Question: When a PCT application designating China enters the Chinese national phase, may the applicant request both invention patent and utility model protection at the same time?
Refunds of Chinese Invention Patent Substantive Examination Fees
Question: When may the substantive examination fee for a Chinese invention patent application be refunded?
What Counts as Trademark Use on Goods?
Question: What forms of use on goods qualify as trademark use, and what does not qualify?
Division of Trademark Applications in China
Question: I have two questions about divisional trademark applications in China: 1) If the designated goods or services in the original application are described using broader terms, can narrower terms be used in the divisional application? 2) A divisional application retains the original filing date. Can the application be divided an unlimited number of times?
Can a Licence for a Pending Chinese Patent Application Be Recorded?
Question: Can a licence for a pending Chinese patent application be recorded in China, and is there a deadline?
Can Several Years of Patent Annuities Be Paid in Advance?
Question: Can a patentee pay several years of annuities, for example four years, at once?
Can a Chinese Trademark Application Be Examined Faster?
Question: Can a trademark application in China receive expedited examination, and how long does examination normally take?
Does an Opinion in Box VIII Prevent a Chinese PCT-PPH Request?
Question: If Box VIII of the latest international work product, such as the WO/ISA, WO/IPEA or IPER, contains a written opinion, is the application ineligible for accelerated examination under China’s PCT-PPH pilot program?
Frequently Asked Questions about Divisional Patent Applications
Question: 1. Can a Divisional Application Change the Patent Type?
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Can Non-Use Cancellation Overcome a Cited Trademark in Refusal Review?
Question: If a trademark application is refused because of earlier identical or similar marks, can the applicant overcome those citations by requesting non-use cancellation while seeking refusal review before the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB)?
When Can a PPH Request Be Filed in China?
Question: When can a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) request be filed with SIPO?
China’s Patent Examination Cooperation Centers
Question: I understand that substantive examination of invention patent applications is mainly carried out by Patent Examination Cooperation Centers. How many of these centers are there in China, and how many invention applications do they examine?
Is the substantive-examination request for a Chinese divisional application always due within two months of filing?
Question: For a divisional application filed in China, is the deadline for requesting substantive examination always two months from the date on which the divisional application is filed? What provision governs this period?
Must a joint priority applicant assign priority when only one applicant files in China?
Question: A Japanese application was filed jointly by companies A and B. A Chinese application claiming priority from it will be filed under the Paris Convention, but only company A wishes to obtain rights in China. If company B is omitted from the Chinese application, must it provide an assignment or another document?
How can citation counts for Chinese patents be found?
Question: Can the number of times a Chinese patent has been cited be obtained through a database search?
I am Taiwanese. Can I file an application before SIPO claiming priority of a Taiwan application?
Question: I am Taiwanese. Can I file an application before SIPO claiming priority of a Taiwan application?
I have no trademark registration in China, if someone applied a mark in China that is identical or similar to the figure logo I have used, what can I do to protect my right?
Question: I have no trademark registration in China, if someone applied a mark in China that is identical or similar to the figure logo I have used, what can I do to protect my right?
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I heard that the PPH pilot program between China and some countries extends indefinitely. If it is true, could you tell me which countries are those?
Question: I heard that the PPH pilot program between China and some countries extends indefinitely. If it is true, could you tell me which countries are those?
Aspects of Evaluation Report for Patent
Question: 1. What is the Evaluation Report prescribed in the Chinese Patent Law?
Read article ↗If a Chinese application (parent application) has been rejected for more than one year, and its divisional application has been filed, when can the applicant file another divisional application from the first filed divisional application?
Question: If a Chinese application (parent application) has been rejected for more than one year, and its divisional application has been filed, when can the applicant file another divisional application from the first filed divisional application?
Paying Several Years of Chinese Patent Annuities
Question: Must Chinese patent annuities be paid one year at a time, or can several years—for example, five—be paid together?
Changing a Product Claim to a Manufacturing-Process Claim
Question: During substantive examination in China, an examiner finds that claim 1, directed to a product, lacks an inventive step. May the applicant amend it to claim a process for manufacturing that product in order to overcome the objection?
There is one question on design patent application in China, what do the essential features in the brief description of the design application refer to?
Question: There is one question on design patent application in China, what do the essential features in the brief description of the design application refer to?
During the procedure of trademark registration application, when can a divisional application be filed?
Question: During the procedure of trademark registration application, when can a divisional application be filed?
Can a Chinese patent application be published five or six months after filing?
Question: In a pending US application, published Chinese application CN101XXXX00A has been cited against us. It appears to have been filed in July 2010, but bears a publication date of December 29, 2010. We understand that applications are normally published after 18 months. Is the publication date wrong, or can an application be published so quickly?
If I failed to respond to an office action issued by SIPO within the specified time limit, is there any chance to file a response after the expiration of the time limit?
Question: If I failed to respond to an office action issued by SIPO within the specified time limit, is there any chance to file a response after the expiration of the time limit?
Calculating the deadline for responding to a Chinese office action
Question: What are the deadlines for responding to Chinese office actions? For example, if the first office action was issued on August 4, 2014, when would the response be due?
Filing GUI design applications in China: questions and answers
Question: What is the most common problem in the applications already filed?
Third-party observations during patent reexamination
Question: Can I submit third-party observations on a Chinese patent application that is undergoing reexamination?
The nine-month trademark examination period and excluded time
Question: Under the third amendment to the Chinese Trademark Law, the Trademark Office must complete examination of a trademark registration application within nine months. Can this period be extended? Which periods are excluded from its calculation?
Contents and formalities of a trademark letter of consent
Question: What contents and formalities are required for a letter of consent submitted to China’s Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB)?
Access to office actions and responses through CPQUERY
Question: We understand that the China Patent Inquiry System (http://cpquery.sipo.gov.cn) provides the full text of office actions. Can we also read applicants’ arguments in their responses through the system?
China’s patent agencies and patent attorneys at the end of 2013
Question: How many patent attorneys and patent agencies are there in China, and what proportion of Chinese applications are handled by agencies?
When are Chinese patent applications published?
Question: When is a Chinese patent application first published? Does claiming priority affect the publication date? When is a PCT application published after entry into the Chinese national phase?
Comparing third-party observation procedures in China and Japan
Question: What are the main differences between the third-party observation systems in China and Japan?
When may a divisional patent application be filed in China?
Question: When may a divisional patent application be filed in China?
Free access to Chinese intellectual property judgments
Question: Which free website can be used to search Chinese court judgments?
Patent agencies, patent attorneys and agency representation in 2012–2013
Question: How many patent attorneys and patent agencies are there in China? How many patent applications were filed through patent agencies in 2012?
Choosing between an invention patent and a utility model at PCT national entry
Question: Our client intends to enter the Chinese national phase of a PCT application but has not decided whether to seek an invention patent or a utility model. Can an invention patent application be converted to a utility model application, or vice versa? If so, when?
Extension of the USPTO–SIPO PPH pilot
Question: Has the Patent Prosecution Highway pilot between the USPTO and SIPO been extended?
Must a design created in China be filed in China first?
Question: A German client has a Chinese subsidiary, where a Chinese employee created a design. The client normally first files a Community design application and then files a Chinese design application claiming priority from it. Does Chinese law require a Chinese designer to file the first design application in China?
Does an inventor’s Chinese nationality require a foreign filing licence?
Question: We have prepared a US patent application and wonder whether a foreign filing licence from SIPO is required because one inventor is a Chinese citizen. If this inventor neither conceived nor worked on their part of the invention in China, is such a licence necessary?
How is the check digit of a Chinese application number calculated?
Question: What do the digits after the decimal point in numbers such as 200610045875.9 and 89200001.5 mean, and how are they calculated?
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Why do Chinese patent application numbers have different lengths?
Question: Chinese application numbers contain different numbers of digits, for example 200610045875.9 and 89200001.5. What rules govern their format?
Read article ↗Could PPH application files be accessed through the China Patent Inquiry System?
Question: We understand that the file wrapper of a Chinese patent application can be searched through the China Patent Inquiry System (http://publicquery.sipo.gov.cn/). Could a case proceeding under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) before SIPO also be searched through this system?
Marking a product while a Chinese patent application is pending
Question: Before a patent is granted, is it sufficient to mark a product, its packaging, its manual or other materials with the type of Chinese patent application and the application number in Chinese?
Could the term of a pharmaceutical patent be extended in China?
Question: Could you provide information on whether the term of a pharmaceutical patent can be extended in China?
Submitting third-party observations on a Chinese patent application
Question: Can a third party submit observations on a Chinese patent application? What provisions govern third-party observations in China?
Could a graphical user interface obtain design protection in China?
Question: Our client is interested in obtaining registered design protection in China for the aesthetic aspects of a graphical user interface or website design. Could such an interface be protected by a registered design?
Countries participating in China’s PPH pilots in early 2012
Question: Which countries have launched Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programmes with China?
Read article ↗Official fee for a PPH request before SIPO
Question: Is an official fee payable when submitting a PPH request to SIPO?
Read article ↗Amending Chinese claims to correspond to Japanese claims for PPH
Question: A Chinese application based on a Japanese application corresponds to the text originally filed with the JPO. However, amendments during Japanese prosecution mean that its claims no longer correspond to those allowed in Japan. China offers limited opportunities for voluntary amendment. If three months have passed since receipt of the Notice of Entry into Substantive Examination, how can the applicant make the Chinese claims sufficiently correspond to the Japanese claims for a PPH request?
Read article ↗Clerical errors in a PPH claim correspondence table
Question: The claims allowed by the JPO contain clerical errors but otherwise correspond to the Chinese claims. May the applicant state “completely identical” in the claim correspondence table submitted to SIPO?
Read article ↗Does a PPH request replace substantive examination in China?
Question: We have heard that a PPH request can make obtaining a patent easier in Korea because no additional examination is carried out. What is the position in China?
Read article ↗When to request PPH participation before SIPO
Question: When may an applicant submit a PPH request to SIPO?
Read article ↗Electronic filing requirement for PPH requests from March 2012
Question: If a PPH request is submitted on or after March 1, 2012, must the corresponding Chinese application be an electronic application?
Read article ↗PCT-PPH requests when Box VIII contains observations
Question: May a PCT-PPH request be submitted to SIPO if Box VIII of the WO/ISA, WO/IPEA or IPER forming the basis of the request contains any observations?
Read article ↗Translation of US documents for a China–US PPH request
Question: For a China–US PPH request to SIPO, the applicant must submit copies of all USPTO office actions for the corresponding application and all claims found patentable or allowable by the USPTO. Must translations also be submitted?
Read article ↗Translation of Japanese documents for a China–Japan PPH request
Question: For a China–Japan PPH request to SIPO, the applicant must submit copies of all JPO office actions for the corresponding application and all claims found patentable or allowable by the JPO. Must translations also be submitted?
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