Protection of IP rights gets further boost

China is speeding up the processing of patent and trademark reviews and improving legal protection for intellectual property rights owners after the nation saw such applications grow rapidly in recent years, the country's top IP regulator said. By the end of 2022,  the processing time for

an  invention patent application will be cut to 16.5 months and that for a high-value patent application to about 13.8 months, the National Intellectual Property Administration said in a recent statement. In addition, the average time for reviewing a trademark application will also be reduced to within four months--the fastest worldwide, according to the statement. Last year, the average review time for trademark registration was shortened to 4.5 months, compared with six months in 2018, and the processing time for examination of high-value patents was reduced by more than 15 percent to 17.3 months, the latest administration data show.

China’s IP protection development is widely acknowledged

In recent years, China's IP protection work has made remarkable achievements and is widely acknowledged by the IP community, thanks to constant improvement of relevant laws, regulations and policy system, enhancement of law enforcement, profound reform in the

field of judicial trial, among other advancement. China's IP protection is highly recognized by the subjects of innovation. In China, the pendency for patents and trademarks has been constantly curtailed, IP protection has been continuously strengthened and social satisfaction score on IP protection is increasing over the years. The pendency for high-value patents was shrunk to 17.3 months and user satisfaction score on patent examination quality reached 84.8 in 2019, comfortably within the satisfaction range...

Applicants can handle patent, trademark and other services online

Recently, CNIPA has issued a notice that its service windows will be open from February 3, 2020. In order to strengthen the prevention and control of novel coronavirus pneumonia, effectively reduce the gathering of people and block the spread of novel coronavirus, the applicants are

advised to handle the services such as patents, trademarks and layout designs of integrated circuits online via the Internet as they can as possible during the epidemic prevention and control, to minimize the risk of cross infection. In terms of patent application services, CNIPA provides two approaches for handling online the application services: the electronic application client and the online business processing platform of electronic application. After registered on the China patent online application website (http://cponline.cnipa.gov.cn), the applicant can choose one of the two approaches to edit and submit the patent application documents, receive various types of notifications...

China promotes IP pledge financing to support enterprises amid epidemic

China will further promote intellectual property pledge financing to support small and medium-sized enterprises amid epidemic, according to an official. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has rolled out a series of measures to

facilitate intellectual property-related businesses and pledge financing, said He Zhimin, deputy director of the CNIPA at a press conference. "It is a very effective measure for those small and medium-sized companies, especially technological companies, to pledge their intellectual property rights for funds and tackle their financing strain," He said. He said the CNIPA has set up a green channel for IP pledge financing registration, shortening the electronic registration period to one working day. It has enhanced investigation on the demand for intellectual property pledge financing and coordinated with banks to grant loans or renew loans for those enterprises...