(1) Purpose of the patent application number
The patent application number can only be used for patent application documents accepted by the agency and may not be used for other purposes.
(2) Receipt and return of patent application number
The agency shall receive the application number in accordance with the requirements of the Patent Office Acceptance Office. Before January 6 of each year, the remaining application numbers and invalidated application numbers of the previous year must be sent back to the Patent Office Acceptance Office, and records of the receipt and use of application numbers in that year should be attached.
(3) Use of patent application number
1. Patent application numbers should be used annually.
2． Patent application numbers should be used continuously in ascending order. Application numbers that have been invalidated for any reason should be recorded and the scrapped number slips should be collected and kept, and returned to the Patent Office acceptance office at the end of the year.
3. On January 1 of each year, when receiving patent application documents submitted in person, the patent application number of the new year will be used and the application number of the previous year will be stopped. Before January 5, patent applications received by the agency and submitted in the previous year can continue to use the application number of the previous year. After January 5, for patent applications submitted in the previous year received by the agency, the agency will determine the date of receipt and application date, and forward the application documents and envelope to the Patent Office Acceptance Office.