The time limits for applying for patents are:
1. To apply for foreign patent priority, one must apply within one year from the date of first filing a patent application for an invention or utility model in a foreign country, or The design shall be filed within half a year from the date when the patent application for the design is first filed in a foreign country;
2. To apply for domestic patent priority, the application shall be filed within half a year from the date when the invention or utility model is first filed for patent in China. Within one year, or within six months from the date when the design is first filed for patent in China.
Legal Basis
Article 29 of the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China that came into effect on June 1, 2021
The applicant since Within twelve months from the date of first filing of a patent application for an invention or utility model in a foreign country, or within six months from the date of the first filing of a patent application for a design in a foreign country, another patent application for the same subject matter is filed in China , it may enjoy priority in accordance with the agreement signed between the foreign country and China or the international treaty to which the foreign country is a party, or in accordance with the principle of mutual recognition of priority.
Within twelve months from the date the applicant first files a patent application for an invention or utility model in China, or within six months from the date a design first files a patent application in China , and files a patent application for the same subject with the Patent Administration Department of the State Council, it can enjoy priority.