According to Article 65 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Enterprise Income Tax Law (the State Council Order No.512), the intangible assets mentioned in Article 12 of the enterprise income tax refer to non-monetary long-term assets held by enterprises for producing products, providing services, leasing or operating management, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, land use rights, non-patented technologies and goodwill. When calculating taxable income, it is allowed to deduct the amortization expenses of intangible assets calculated by enterprises according to regulations.
Patent ownership belongs to individuals, not to enterprise assets and cannot be amortized as intangible assets. The expenses incurred by an enterprise in purchasing the right to use a patent shall be regarded as long-term deferred expenses and amortized evenly within the term of use of the patent.