What is the Shanghai Patent Funding Regulations? Shanghai Patent Funding Regulations Review

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Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China and other laws, regulations and policies, and in light of the actual situation of Shanghai, in order to encourage inventions and creations, promote technological innovation, enhance the ability to create, apply, protect, manage and provide services for patents, give full play to the role of the patent system in stimulating innovation, and support the overall goal of Shanghai's construction of a science and technology innovation center with global influence.
Article 2 Patent funding refers to the allocation of relevant funds in the municipal public financial budget to support applicants in applying for patents or carrying out patent-related work.
Patent funding is divided into general funding and special funding.
Article 3 Applicants for funding refer to enterprises, institutions and social groups registered or registered in this city, as well as individuals with household registration or residence permit in this city.
Article 4 Patent funding shall follow the principles of "improving quality and efficiency, promoting application, highlighting key points, and applying in good faith".
The focus is on the country's and the city's strategic emerging industries, with key support for improving patent quality and promoting transformation and application.
Article 5 Anyone who has already received patent funding from the central or municipal finances shall not be entitled to duplicate funding.
Article 6 The municipal patent authority is responsible for the acceptance, review, and organization of the review of patent funding applications, the daily management and disbursement of funds, and the disclosure of information on the use of funds. The municipal finance department is responsible for the supervision and performance evaluation of funds.

Chapter II General Funding

Article 7 General funding refers to the funding for the city's units and individuals to apply for patent-related expenses from the State Intellectual Property Office of China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and relevant patent examination agencies abroad.
Article 8 Applicants who meet any of the following conditions may apply for general funding:
(1) Domestic invention patent holders;
(2) Patent holders of Hong Kong registered standard patents, Macao authorized invention patents or Taiwan authorized invention patents (hereinafter referred to as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan invention patents);
(3) The patent owner of an invention patent applied for and obtained authorization abroad (hereinafter referred to as a foreign patent) in accordance with an agreement signed with China or an international treaty to which both countries are parties.
Article 9 If a patent has multiple patent owners, the funding applicant should be the first applicant when applying for the patent and comply with the provisions of Article 3.
Article 10 The projects and amounts of funding for applicants to apply for domestic invention patents are as follows:
(I) Authorized funding: The one-time funding after authorization shall not exceed RMB 2,500.
(ii) Annual fee subsidy: After the third year of payment of the annual fee after authorization, the one-time subsidy shall not exceed RMB 1,500.
Domestic invention patents that have been approved by the State Intellectual Property Office to reduce relevant patent fees will no longer be eligible for funding under items (1) and (2).
(III) For the first authorized domestic invention patent obtained by a small and micro enterprise, a one-time subsidy of no more than RMB 3,000 will be provided.
(IV) A one-time grant of RMB 10,000 will be provided to domestic invention patents that have won the China Patent Award.
(V) For domestic invention patents with good rights stability or put into actual operation, a one-time subsidy of RMB 3,000 will be provided.
Article 11: For applicants applying for invention patents authorized by Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the amount of funding for each patent shall not exceed RMB 3,000.
The funding project is to subsidize applicants to pay official fees to relevant patent examination agencies and service fees to domestic agencies.
Article 12: For applicants applying for foreign patents, the funding for each invention patent after authorization shall not exceed 5 countries or regions. Among them, the funding for each country or region authorized through the PCT route shall not exceed RMB 50,000; the funding for each country or region authorized through the Paris Convention route shall not exceed RMB 40,000.
The funding project is to subsidize applicants to pay official fees to relevant patent examination agencies and service fees to domestic agencies.
The total amount of foreign patent funding received by the same applicant each year shall not exceed RMB 10 million.
Article 13 After the municipal patent authority accepts an application for funding, it shall make a decision on whether to provide funding within 15 working days for domestic patents and patents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and within 30 working days for foreign patents.

Chapter III Special Funding

Article 14 Special funding refers to the funding given to patent pilot enterprises and institutions and patent demonstration enterprises and institutions recognized by the municipal patent authority in their patent creation, application, protection and management work.
The recognition and management methods for patent work pilot enterprises and institutions and patent work demonstration enterprises and institutions will be formulated separately.
Article 15 The special funding received by the applicant shall be used for the following work:
(1) Standardization of patent management;
(ii) formulation and implementation of patent strategies;
(3) Construction of patent database and early warning platform;
(iv) Patent trusteeship, pledge, transfer and licensing;
(V) Patent talent training;
(6) Patent protection;
(VII) Other patent work.
Article 16 The amount of funding for each patent pilot enterprise or institution shall not exceed RMB 400,000 during the two-year pilot period.
The amount of funding for each patent work demonstration enterprise or institution during the two-year demonstration period shall not exceed RMB 600,000.
Article 17 Based on the patent work plans and financial budgets submitted by the recognized patent pilot enterprises or demonstration enterprises and institutions, the municipal patent authority shall make a review decision within 2 months and advance no more than 70% of the total funding for those that pass the review.
After the term of a patent pilot enterprise or demonstration enterprise expires, the municipal patent authority will organize an assessment and disburse the remaining funds of the special grant to those who pass the assessment.

Chapter IV Management and Supervision

Article 18 Patent funding must be used for specific purposes. The use of patent funding is subject to special audits and performance evaluations by relevant departments to ensure that patent funding is standardized, safe, and effective.
Article 19 If a grant applicant engages in abnormal application behavior, or commits fraud in the grant application process, or uses grant funds in violation of regulations such as withholding or misappropriating grant funds, the funds already allocated shall be recovered within a specified period of time, and the applicant shall be disqualified from applying for patent grants within five years. At the same time, his/her bad record shall be recorded in the Shanghai Public Credit Information Service Platform, and the legal liability of the grant applicant shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 20 If the entrusted unit commits fraud or colludes with the funding applicant to cheat during the process of applying for patents or undertaking related projects, the funding will be stopped, and its bad record will be recorded in the Shanghai Public Credit Information Service Platform, and the legal liability of the unit will be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 21 If the staff of the municipal patent authority abuses their power, neglects their duties, or engages in malpractice for personal gain in their funding work, the legal responsibilities of the relevant personnel shall be investigated in accordance with the law.

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Article 22 These Measures shall enter into force on January 1, 2019 and shall be valid until December 31, 2023. The Measures for Patent Subsidy in Shanghai (Shanghai Intellectual Property Office [2017] No. 61) which came into effect on July 1, 2017 shall be repealed simultaneously.

Latest News

Notice on the suspension of the implementation of the "Shanghai Patent Funding Measures"

All relevant units:

In order to implement the relevant requirements of the "Notice of the National Intellectual Property Administration on Further Standardizing Patent Application Behavior" (Guozhifabaozi [2021] No. 1), our office will stop implementing the "Shanghai Patent Funding Measures" (Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau Regulation [2018] No. 1) from January 1, 2022, and will suspend the acceptance of patent funding applications. After the revision of the "Shanghai Intellectual Property Special Fund Management Measures" is completed, it will be implemented in accordance with the new policy.

December 2, 2021