it is not clear in the patent law of the people's Republic of China and the detailed rules for the implementation of the patent law of the people's Republic of China that a design patent cannot apply for domestic priority, but its spirit is obvious. Article 29 of the Patent Law stipulates: "Where the applicant claims domestic priority, and the earlier application is an application for a patent for invention, he may file an application for a patent for invention or utility model on the same subject; If the earlier application is an application for a patent for utility model, an application for a patent for utility model or invention may be filed on the same subject. " There is no mention of the domestic priority of design patents here.
In China National Intellectual Property Administration's Patent Examination Guide, "5.2 Requirements for Priority in Preliminary Examination of Patent Applications for Design", it is clearly stated that "according to the provisions of Article 29, paragraph 1 of the Patent Law, the priority requirements for patent applications for design are limited to foreign priorities".