It is recommended that you consult a professional patent agency. Because whether it is a PCT international application or a single country application, it is necessary to entrust a foreign-related patent agency designated by the China Patent Office authorized by the State Council to handle it. The specific procedures are summarized as follows:
PCT International Application
If a Chinese entity or individual files an international application, it must obtain the consent of the relevant competent department of the State Council, or declare to the Chinese Patent Office that the invention does not involve national security , and then you can apply in one of the following two ways.
(1) First file a national patent application with the China Patent Office, and then file an international application within the 12-month priority period:
(2) Directly file with the China Patent Office File an international application and designate China in the international application.
To file an international application, you must entrust a foreign-related patent agency designated by the China Patent Office authorized by the State Council to handle it. The China Patent Office does not accept applicants to submit international applications directly. The PCT Division of the China Patent Office is responsible for accepting international applications submitted to the China Patent Office. The agencies established by the China Patent Office across the country do not accept international applications. Chinese nationals or residents may also submit international applications directly to the International Bureau of WITO. International application documents can be submitted to the PCT Section of the China Patent Office through the prescribed patent agency in person, by registered mail, or by fax. If submitted by fax, the original document must be delivered to the China Patent Office through the prescribed patent agency within 14 days from the date of fax. Otherwise, the fax will be deemed not received. The date when the Chinese Patent Office actually receives the international application documents that meet the acceptance conditions is the international filing date. If submitted by fax, as long as the fax meets the acceptance conditions and the original is delivered within the specified time, the date of the fax will be the international filing date.
If the submitted international application documents do not meet the acceptance conditions, the applicant is allowed to make corrections within 30 days from the date of submission, and the date when the corrections meet the acceptance conditions will be the international application date.
Those who file an international application shall pay transmission fees, search fees and international fees (including basic fees and designation fees) within one month from the international filing date. The designation fee can be paid within the above period or within 12 months from the priority date.
Single country application
1. Apply for a Chinese patent
If Chinese entities and individuals plan to apply for a foreign patent, they must first submit a patent application to the China Patent Office. The main purpose is to facilitate the patent office's confidentiality review to safeguard national interests. This is also beneficial to applicants, because if they apply to a member state of the Paris Convention, they can enjoy priority according to regulations. As for inventions and creations made by Chinese citizens abroad, they can first go through the patent application procedures in the country of residence in accordance with the "Regulations on Application for Patents for Inventions and Creations Completed Abroad by Chinese Scholars". Any invention or creation that involves national security or major interests and needs to be kept secret may not apply for a foreign patent. Violators will be subject to administrative sanctions. In serious cases, criminal liability will be pursued in accordance with the law.
2. Handle priority certification and procedures
If an entity applies, it should generally submit a "Request for Patent Application Abroad" to the relevant competent department of the State Council in accordance with the industry's centralized or administrative jurisdiction. . After receiving the request, the relevant competent department of the State Council shall conduct a confidential review of the request within 4 months from the date of application, provide opinions on whether to agree to apply for a patent abroad, approve the applicant, and send a copy to the State Science and Technology Commission. After receiving the affirmative notification, the applicant can take this notification to the China Patent Office to request a priority certificate to go through the procedures for submitting a patent application to a foreign country. Individual applicants can directly request a priority certificate from the Patent Office. After passing the confidentiality review, the China Patent Office will issue a priority certificate. To request a priority certificate, you must pay a priority claim fee. Submit a request for copies of documents:
3. Process microorganism preservation procedures
Most countries’ patent laws stipulate that any Patent applications for microorganisms that are not available to the public require that the microorganism be submitted for deposit before or on the filing date. This requires that the applicant should complete the export license procedures before submitting the patent application. At the same time, the microorganism import procedures must also be handled through an agency in the country where the patent is located. my country joined the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposits of Microorganisms for Patent Procedures on July 1, 1995.
The General Microbiology Center of China Committee for the Collection of Microbial Cultures (Zhongguancun, Beijing) and the China Type Culture Collection Center (within Wuhan University) designated by the China Patent Office are also internationally recognized microbial culture preservation institutions. Therefore, if a deposit has been submitted to the above-mentioned units and the patent application is filed with a contracting country of the Budapest Treaty, the deposit procedures may not be processed separately or extended.
4. Entrusted agency
Chinese entities and individuals apply for patents from foreign countries. Applicants should entrust a foreign-related patent agency designated by the State Council to handle the application with a priority certificate. To entrust an agent, you need to sign a power of attorney (some also need to sign an agency contract). The power of attorney is generally printed uniformly by the agency. If the applicant is from an organization, it should be stamped by the organization and signed by the legal agent; if the applicant is an individual, it should be signed by the individual. Secondly, you must also fill in the entrusted foreign patent application details form, which includes the name of the inventor, applicant, address, original application date, application number, priority claim, application country, application category, and translation of application documents. methods, notarization and certification methods, etc. Among them, the inventor column must provide Chinese and Chinese Pinyin, and the applicant column must provide the formal unit name in Chinese, English or Chinese Pinyin. If the priority certification document has not been completed originally, you can entrust an agency to handle it.
5. Fill in the relevant application forms
These forms are provided by agencies in the applying country and need to be filled out by Chinese applicants. The more common ones include a power of attorney, transfer certificate (if there is a transfer relationship), inventor's affidavit, and certificate of small and medium-sized enterprises (some countries and the United States stipulate that if the applicant is a small and medium-sized enterprise, the application fee can be waived, etc.).
6. The processing of other necessary documents depends on the country of application. If applying to Japan, legal person notarization or personal nationality notarization is required. When applying to Thailand, the Philippines, and other countries in South America, you must go through the notarization of the signature on the power of attorney; the Philippines and other countries in South America also need to go through the application document authentication procedures. Notarization procedures can generally be handled at the Beijing Notary Office.