1. Request principle. Unless otherwise provided by the Patent Law and its implementing regulations, the substantive examination procedure can only be initiated if the applicant files a request for substantive examination. The examiner can only conduct an examination based on the application documents that the applicant has formally submitted for examination in accordance with the law.
2. Hearing principles. When the examiner makes a decision to reject, the reasons for rejection and the evidence based on the decision should have been notified to the applicant in the previous notice of examination action.
3. The principle of economical procedures. When conducting substantive examination of an invention patent application, the examiner should shorten the examination process as much as possible.
Legal Basis
Article 36 of the Patent Law states that when an applicant for an invention patent requests substantive examination, he shall submit reference materials related to his invention before the filing date.
If an application for an invention patent has been filed in a foreign country, the patent administration department of the State Council may require the applicant to submit within a specified time limit the information retrieved by that country for the purpose of examining the application or the information on the examination results; if the application is overdue without justifiable reasons, If not submitted, the application will be deemed withdrawn.