Chinese Design Patent

Examination Process

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1）Filing and Acceptance 

Paris Convention route: Where a patent application meets the requirements of acceptance, determining the date of filing, assignment of the application number, and after checking the number of documents the Notification of Acceptance of Patent Application will be issued, If the application is submitted with electronic documents, it will generally receive the Notification of Acceptance within 2-3 working days.

2）Preliminary Examination 

During preliminary examination, for a patent application whose application documents have defects that can be eliminated through rectifications, the examiner shall issue the Notification to Make Rectification. Where the defects still exist in the application documents after the applicant makes rectification, the examiner shall issue another Notification to Make Rectification.

During preliminary examination, for a patent application whose application documents have obvious substantive defects that cannot be eliminated through rectifications, the examiner shall issue the Office Action.

3）Response to Preliminary examination(Applicant/agent)

The applicant shall, after receiving the Notification to Make Rectification or the Office Action, make rectification or observations within the specified time limit. The applicant shall, when making rectification of the application, submit the rectification and the corresponding replacement sheets of the amended documents shall be in duplicate, while only one copy is required for other documents. The amendment to the application documents shall be made concerning the defects indicated in the notification or Office Action, and shall not go beyond the scope of the disclosure contained in the drawings or photographs filed on the date of filing.

4）Grant/Rejection 

4.1）Grant: 

The Patent Office: Where it is found after the preliminary examination that there is no cause for rejection of the application for a design patent, the Patent Office shall make a decision to grant the patent right, issue the patent certificate, and register and announce it. The patent right shall take effect from the date of announcement. Before the grant of patent right, the Patent Office shall issue the Notification to Grant Patent Right. It takes about 4~8 months to receive one Notification to Grant Patent Right. 

Applicant/Patent Agent: At the same time when the Patent Office issues the Notification to Grant Patent Right, it shall also issue the Notification to go through formalities of Registration. The applicant shall go through the formalities of registration within 2 months from the date of receipt of the notification.

4.2）Rejection(re-examination)： 

The Patent Office: Where obvious substantive defects exist in the application documents and remain unrectified after the applicant makes observations or amendment upon the examiner’s issuance of the Office Action, or where formality defects exist in the application documents and remain unrectified after the applicant makes observations or rectification upon the examiner’s issuance of Notification to Make Rectification twice in respect of said defects, the examiner may make a decision of rejection.

Applicant/agent: The applicant may file a request for re-examination with the Patent Reexamination Board within 3 months from the date of receipt of the Decision of Rejection by the Patent Office. 

Documents Required

For filing a patent application in China, the following documents and information are required:

1)Request 

2)Drawings or photographs, Brief explanation

3)Priority information and related documents (If any)

4)Power of Attorney (No notarization required)

5)Other documents and requirements

5.1) According to Article 31.2, two or more similar designs for the same product may be filed as one application.

No more than 10 similar designs in one application may be claimed. If more than 10 similar designs in one application have been claimed, the examiner shall issue the Office Action. If the applicant fails to overcome the defect amendments, the application shall be rejected.

5.2) According to Rule 35.2, products which belong to the same class and are customarily sold or used at the same time, and the designs of which have the same concept of design, may be filed in one application.

Design patent application of products in set shall not include similar designs of one or more products. For example, a design patent application of products in set including dinner cup and saucer.

5.3)The photographs shall be taken in conformity with the rules of exact projection. The relation of projection of the view is corresponding, and the scale of the various views is the same.

Corresponding relationship of projection proportion of view (the width/height of the following view corresponds to the width/height of the PS image):

(1)View width correspondence: front/rear view = top/bottom view

(2)View height correspondence: front/rear view = left/right view

(3)View width and height correspondence: left/right view width = top/bottom view height

(4)One-to-one correspondence of width and height of front/rear view, top/bottom view, left/right view

5.4)The photographs should be cropped to the edge of the product in PS. The background of the photographs shall be plain, and avoid showing other contents except the product incorporating the design. The image size should be 100 resolution and 14 width.

Time limitation

Paris Convention: Under Chinese Patent Law, the deadline for filing a patent application in China under the Paris Convention route will be 6 months respectively from the earliest priority date.

4 Subject Matters protected as Designs 

[Article 2] “Design” means any new design of the shape, the pattern, or their combination, or the combination of the color with shape or pattern, of the overall or local of a product, which creates an aesthetic feeling and is fit for industrial application.

How to expedite the industrial design prosecution process in CHINA.

“Priority Review” may be available. NO official fee.  Service fee ：510 USD 

Where an application meets any of the following conditions, it may request priority review to initiate preferential examination:

(1) Involving in energy conservation and environmental protection, the new generation of information technology, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials, new energy vehicles, intelligent manufacturing and other national key development industries;

(2) Involving in the internet, big data, cloud computing and other fields, and the technology or product update speed is fast;

(3) The patent applicant is ready for implementation or has started implementation, or there is evidence to prove that others are implementing his invention or creation