Changes to the patent fees in China

The Chinese government has decided to change certain patent fees with effect from August 1, 2018, in order to facilitate the intellectual property registration process for the applicants.

It is expected that the following fees will be cancelled:

- the patent registration fees – 200 CNY for inventions, 150 CNY for designs and utility models;

- the application publication fee – 50 CNY;

- the fee for changing the representative or the data on the representative – 50 CNY;

- the PCT transmittal fee (international phase) – 500 CNY.

Furthermore, the current legislation stipulates a possibility of refunding the examination fee only before the issuance of the Notification on starting the substantive examination. However, upon introduction of the amended fee schedule, the applicants will be able to request an application withdrawal and a further refund of half of the examination fee before the expiration of the term for responding the first Office Action, provided that no response has been filed.

The changes in the official fees have not yet been reported by the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), but they have already been announced by the Ministry of Finance as well as the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China (NDRC). By introducing this financial initiative alongside other measures, the Chinese government intends to increase IP protection activity in the country.