The State Intellectual Property Office will suspend and adjust some patent fees from August 1, 2018, with the details as follows.

1. Suspend patent fees (domestic section) including patent registration fee, announcement printing fee, fee for change of record items (change of patent agency and agent entrustment relationship), and PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) patent application fee. The above fees with the expiration date on or before July 31, 2018 shall be charged in accordance with the current rules.

2. For patent applicants or patentees who meet the requirements of the “Measures for the Reduction of Patent Fees” (Cai Shui [2016] No. 78), the period for the reduction of patent annuities shall be prolonged to 10 years within the date of grant, instead of 6 years as of that date. For patents that have been allowed for annuity reduction on or before July 31, 2018, the following measures shall apply: for patents within 6 years from the date of grant, the annuity reduction period shall be extended to the 10th year; for patents that are in 7-9 years from the date of grant, annuity reduction will be continued to the 10th year; patents that are in 10 years or more from the date of grant, annuity reduction does not apply any more.

3. For invention patent applications entering the substantive examination stage, if the application for withdrawal is made before the deadline for responding to the first OA, applicants may apply for refunding 50% of the substantive examination fee.

The new Official Fee Sheet will be officially launched on August 1, 2018, with the original version deactivated at the same time.