legal ground
Article 31 of the Implementing Rules for the Patent Law
Where the applicant claims foreign priority in accordance with Article 30 of the Patent Law, the copy of the earlier application documents submitted by him shall be certified by the original accepting institution. According to the agreement signed between the patent administrative department of the State Council and the accepting institution, if the patent administrative department of the State Council obtains a copy of the earlier application documents through electronic exchange, it shall be deemed that the applicant has submitted a copy of the earlier application documents certified by the accepting institution. Where domestic priority is claimed, if the application date and application number of the earlier application are stated in the request, it shall be deemed that the applicant has submitted a copy of the earlier application documents.