Patent Examination Procedures in China
Generally speaking, prosecution procedures of Chinese patent applications, expecially for inventions, include five steps: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and grant.
However, examination procedures of CN utility model or design patent application do not include publication and substantive examination
The picture below outlines examination procedures of CN invention patent applications.
Step 1 Acceptance of Patent Filing
The application can be hand-delivered or mailed to the office of China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) in Beijing or you can file it via the CNIPA’s representative offices located in provincial intellectual property offices. The easiest way, however, is to submit the application online on the website of CNIPA.
Step 2 Preliminary Examination
The Preliminary examination of a patent application for invention is an indispensable procedure after receipt of the application and before its publication.
During preliminary examination, for a patent application whose application documents have defects that can be eliminated through rectifications OR obvious substantive defects that cannot be eliminated through rectifications, the applicant will receive the Notification to Make Rectification OR an Office Action, in which the defects existing in the patent applicant will be pointed out and the time limit for response will be specified.
If a patent application has passed the preliminary examination, the applicant will receive the Notification of Passing Preliminary Examination and the application will enter into the publication procedure.
Step 3 Publication
If a patent application is successfully preliminary examined, it will be published in the Invention Patent Gazette within 18 months from the application filing date. However, upon the request of the applicant, CNIPA may publish the application earlier.
Step 4 Substantive Examination
After the Chinese patent application is successfully preliminary examined, it will enter into substantive examination as long as the applicant has filed a request for substantive examination.
The request for substantive examination must be filed within three years from the filing date or, if priority is claimed, from the earliest priority date, and the substantive examination fee must be paid in full within the time limit.
Otherwise, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. CNIPA will not start the substantive examination for the application until it is specifically requested to do so.
The purpose of substantive examination is to judge whether the patent right shall be granted to an invention application, especially whether the application meets the requirement of novelty, inventive step and practical applicability.
If your application does not meet the requirements of novelty, inventive step and practical applicability, you will receive the First Office Action. If your response does not overcome problems in the First OA, you will receive the second or third Office Action.
However, if it is found that there are no grounds for rejection of the invention application, CNIPA will make a decision to grant the patent right for invention.
Step 5 Grant and Announcement
Once CNIPA issues a Notification to Go Through Formalities of Registration (Notification), this application has been allowed for grant. After receiving the registration fee, CNIPA will issue a certificate of the patent and publish the patent. The patent shall take effect from the publication date.
The official registration fee, which includes annuity fee and a patent printing fee, must be paid within the time limit specified in the notification. If you fails to pay the fee, your patent will be considered as “abandoned”.
