What is the Patent Fee Reduction Method? Patent Fee Reduction Method Evaluation

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Article 1 These Measures are formulated in order to implement the requirements of the State Council's Several Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a Powerful Intellectual Property Nation under the New Situation (Guo Fa [2015] No. 71), and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Implementing Rules of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China.

Article 2 A patent applicant or patentee may request a reduction in the following patent fees:

(a) Application fee (excluding publication and printing fees and application surcharge);

(2) Fees for substantive examination of invention patent applications;

(3) Annual fees (annual fees for six years from the year in which the patent right is granted);

(iv) Review fees.

Article 3 If a patent applicant or patentee meets any of the following conditions, he may apply to the State Intellectual Property Office for a reduction in the above fees:

(1) Individuals whose average monthly income in the previous year was less than RMB 3,500 (RMB 42,000 per year);

(2) Enterprises whose taxable income in the previous year was less than RMB 300,000;

(3) Public institutions, social groups, and non-profit scientific research institutions.

If two or more individuals or units are joint patent applicants or co-patent holders, they shall respectively comply with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Article 4 If the patent applicant or patent owner is an individual or an organization, the fees prescribed in Article 2 of these Measures shall be reduced by 85%.

If two or more individuals or units are joint patent applicants or joint patent owners, the fees prescribed in Article 2 of these Measures shall be reduced by 70%.

Article 5 A patent applicant or patentee can only request a reduction in fees that have not yet expired. A request for a reduction in application fees shall be submitted at the same time as the patent application. A request for a reduction in other fees may be submitted at the same time as the patent application, or two and a half months before the expiration of the relevant fee payment deadline. If a request for reduction is not submitted within the prescribed time limit, no reduction will be granted.

Article 6 If a patent applicant or patentee requests a reduction in patent fees, he or she shall submit a fee reduction request and relevant supporting materials. If a patent applicant or patentee submits a patent fee reduction request through the patent affairs service system and it is reviewed and approved for filing, he or she shall only need to submit a fee reduction request and no longer need to submit relevant supporting materials if he or she requests a reduction in patent fees again within a natural year.

Article 7 If an individual requests a reduction in patent fees, he or she shall truthfully fill in his or her income in the previous year in the fee reduction request form and submit an annual income certificate issued by his or her unit; if he or she does not have a fixed job, he or she shall submit a certificate of his or her financial difficulties issued by the county-level civil affairs department or township people's government (street office) of his or her place of household registration or habitual residence.

If an enterprise requests a reduction in patent fees, it shall truthfully fill in the economic difficulties in the fee reduction application form and submit a copy of the annual corporate income tax return for the previous year. During the final settlement period, the enterprise shall submit a copy of the annual corporate income tax return for the previous year.

If public institutions, social groups, and non-profit scientific research institutions request a reduction in patent fees, they must submit a copy of their legal person certification materials.

Article 8 After receiving a request for fee reduction, the State Intellectual Property Office shall conduct an examination, make a decision on whether to approve the request for fee reduction, and notify the patent applicant or patent owner.

Article 9 A request for reduction of patent fees shall not be approved if any of the following circumstances exist:

(1) Failure to use the fee reduction request form prepared by the State Intellectual Property Office;

(2) The request for fee reduction is not signed or stamped;

(3) The request for fee reduction does not comply with the provisions of Article 2 or Article 3 of these Measures;

(iv) The individual or unit requesting fee reduction fails to provide supporting documents in accordance with Article 7 of these Measures;

(5) The name or title of the patent applicant or patentee, or the title of the invention in the request for fee reduction is inconsistent with the corresponding content in the patent application or patent registration book.

Article 10 For a fee reduction request approved by the State Intellectual Property Office, the patent applicant or patentee shall pay the patent fee within the prescribed period in accordance with the approved amount payable. If the patent applicant or patentee changes after the fee reduction request is approved, the changed patent applicant or patentee shall resubmit a fee reduction request for the fees that have not yet been paid.

Article 11 After a decision on the examination and approval of a request for patent fee reduction is made, if the State Intellectual Property Office discovers that the decision contains errors, it shall correct the error and promptly notify the patent applicant or patent owner of the correction.

If a patent applicant or patent owner provides false information or false supporting materials when requesting a reduction in patent fees, the National Intellectual Property Administration shall, after verification, revoke the decision on the reduction of patent fees, notify the patent applicant or patent owner to make up the reduced fees within a specified time limit, and cancel their eligibility for fee reduction within five years from the current year. If they fail to make up the fees within the time limit or the amount paid is insufficient, corresponding handling will be made in accordance with the law for underpayment.

If a patent agency or patent agent helps, instructs or induces a patent applicant or patent owner to commit the above-mentioned acts, they shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant regulations.

Article 12 These Measures shall come into force on September 1, 2016. In case of any inconsistency between previous relevant provisions and these Measures, these Measures shall prevail.

Supplementary Announcement

Announcement on the Suspension and Adjustment of Certain Patent Fees (SIPO Announcement No. 272)

In order to further reduce the social burden and promote the protection of patent creation, in accordance with the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission on the Suspension, Exemption and Adjustment of Some Administrative and Institutional Fees" (Finance and Taxation [2018] No. 37), the National Intellectual Property Administration will suspend and adjust some patent fees from August 1, 2018. The announcement is hereby made as follows:

1. The patent registration fee, announcement printing fee, and record item change fee (change of patent agency and agent entrustment relationship) in the patent fees (domestic part) will be suspended, and the transmission fee in the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) patent application fee (international phase part) will be suspended. For the above fees that expire on or before July 31, 2018, they should be paid according to the current regulations.

2. For patent applicants or patent holders who meet the relevant conditions of the "Patent Fee Reduction Measures" (Finance and Taxation [2016] No. 78), the reduction period for annual patent fees will be extended from 6 years from the year of authorization to 10 years. For patents that have been approved for reduction before July 31, 2018 (inclusive), the following treatment will be made: for patents within 6 years from the year of authorization, the reduction period for annual fees will be extended to the 10th year; for patents within 7-9 years from the year of authorization, the annual fees will continue to be reduced from the next year until 10 years; for patents 10 years or more from the year of authorization, the annual fees will no longer be reduced.

3. For invention patent applications that have entered the substantive examination stage, if you voluntarily apply for withdrawal before the expiration of the reply period for the first examination opinion notice (except for those where a reply opinion has been submitted), you can request a refund of 50% of the substantive examination fee for the patent application.

According to the above adjustments, the National Intellectual Property Administration has modified the request forms such as the Request for Fee Reduction and Statement of Opinion (regarding fees). The new versions of the forms will be officially used from August 1, 2018 (Form 1, Form 2), and the old versions will be discontinued at the same time.

State Intellectual Property Office

June 15, 2018

Announcement of the State Intellectual Property Office on Adjusting the Conditions for Reducing Patent Fees and the Fees for Trademark Registration (No. 316)

In order to implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on reducing taxes and fees, effectively reduce social burdens, and promote the development of the real economy, in accordance with the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission on Reducing and Exempting Some Administrative and Institutional Fees" and the "Notice of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance on Reducing Some Administrative and Institutional Fees" (Finance and Taxation [2019] No. 45, Development and Reform Price [2019] No. 914), the National Intellectual Property Administration will adjust the patent fee reduction conditions and trademark registration fee standards from July 1, 2019. The announcement is hereby made as follows:

1. The conditions for patent applicants and patent holders who can apply for reduction of patent fees as stipulated in Article 3 of the Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission on Issuing the Measures for Reduction of Patent Fees (Cai Shui [2016] No. 78) are adjusted from individuals whose average monthly income in the previous year was less than RMB 3,500 (RMB 42,000 per year) to individuals whose average monthly income in the previous year was less than RMB 5,000 (RMB 60,000 per year); and from enterprises whose taxable income in the previous year was less than RMB 300,000 to enterprises whose taxable income in the previous year was less than RMB 1 million.

Second, the fee standard for accepting trademark renewal registration will be reduced from 1,000 yuan to 500 yuan, and the fee standard for change will be reduced from 250 yuan to 150 yuan. For trademark business that submits online applications and accepts electronic documents, the change fee will be waived, and other fee items, including the fee for accepting trademark registration, the fee for reissuing trademark registration certificates, the fee for accepting transfer of registered trademarks, the fee for accepting trademark renewal registration, the fee for accepting renewal registration delays, the fee for accepting trademark review, the fee for issuing trademark certificates, the fee for accepting collective trademark registration, the fee for accepting certification trademark registration, the fee for trademark objection, the fee for canceling trademarks, and the fee for filing trademark license contracts, will be charged at 90% of the current standard.

State Intellectual Property Office

June 28, 2019