Patent Application in China

The laws and regulations governing a China patent require novelty, creativity and practicality for the inventions and utility models applying for patents. The appearance designs shall not be the same as or similar to those that have publicly published on publications in China or overseas or publicly used in China before the application date.

Foreigners, foreign corporations or other foreign organisations without habitual residence or place of business applying for patent in China must appoint an agent to carry out the process.

Types of Application

Invention Patent: products, methods or new technical plans proposed for its improvement
Utility Model Patent: the shape or the structure of the product or the proposed applicable new technical plans developed from the combination of both
Design Patent: the shape, pattern, color of the product, or the new design which is applicable and may arouse aesthetic sensibilities developed form the combination of them.

Priority

A patent applicant may enjoy the right of priority, in accordance with any agreement entered into between an oversea country and China or an international treaty under which both of them are parties, for a period of twelve months (six months for Registration of Patent for Appearance Design) immediately from the date on which the initial patent application for the same invention or a utility model was made and such patent application was also made in China.

Required Documents and Information and Term of Validity Period

Type	Required Documents and Information	Term of Validity Period	Comparison of Advantages and Disadvantages
Invention Patent	Name of the invention Name and address of the applicant Name and address of the inventor Patent documents^*	Renewable each year upon the end of the first year of grant up to 20years.	International search and examination required, lengthening processing time for application, with a stronger protection and a longer protection period.
Utility Model Patent	Name of the invention Name and address of the applicant Name and address of the inventor Patent documents^*	Renewable upon the end of the first year from the submission date for application, up to 10 years.	A shorter processing time for application than that for an invention patent as only formal examination required, with a weaker protection resulting from only formal examination being done.
Design Patent	Name of the design Name and address of the applicant Name and address of the designer Drawings of the designed product Brief description of the appearance design	Renewed upon the end of the first year from the submission date for application up to 15 years.	Protection to be covered to the appearance of the design only, with its technical aspect excluded.
*^The patent documents include:** Claim: describe the protection scope of the patented technology Abstract: provide the outline of the key technical aspect of the patent Specification: provide written details and features of the patented technology Drawings: illustrate structures or details of the patent

Application for Government Grant

In order to encourage Chinese enterprises and natural persons to "go global", the State Administration for Market Regulation has set up a special fund. If an applicant successfully applies for an overseas patent, the enterprise applicant can receive a grant of up to RMB 10,000,000, and the natural person applicant can receive a grant of up to RMB 100,000.

Patent Application

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