Legal basis: Civil Code of People's Republic of China (PRC).
Article 859 Except as otherwise provided by law or agreed by the parties, the right to apply for a patent for an invention-creation commissioned for development belongs to the research developer. If the research developer obtains a patent right, the client may exploit the patent according to law. Where the research developer assigns the right to apply for a patent, under the same conditions, the trustor shall have the priority to be assigned.
A technology transfer contract includes a patent right transfer contract, a patent application right transfer contract and a technology secret transfer contract. Technology licensing contracts include patent licensing, technology secret licensing and other contracts. Technology transfer contracts and technology licensing contracts shall be in written form.
Article 865 A patent licensing contract is valid only within the term of the patent right. Where the term of validity of the patent right expires or the patent right is declared invalid, the patentee may not conclude a patent licensing contract with others for the patent.
Article 866 The licensor of a patent exploitation license contract shall, in accordance with the agreement, license the licensee to exploit the patent, deliver technical materials related to the exploitation of the patent, and provide necessary technical guidance.
Article 867 The licensee of a patent exploitation license contract shall exploit the patent in accordance with the agreement, and shall not license a third party other than the agreement to exploit the patent and pay the royalties in accordance with the agreement.