- You’d better enter China by PCT national phase within 30 months from the priority date. If the deadline is missed with any justified reason, you may file a restoration request within 2 months to the Chinese Patent Office with a statement indicating that the delay in entry was unintentional and pay an extra fee.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Chinese version of abstract, claims, specification, drawings (when explanatory text is included).
- Within 36 months from the priority date.
- It is not hard to get it granted in China and it will take around 2 to 3 years after application. Moreover, you can request for PPH to accelerate the examination, by which it only takes around 1 year from filing to grant.
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Annual Fees
(CNY)1st - 3rd years 900 4th - 6th years 1,200 7th - 9th years 2,000 10th - 12th years 4,000 13th - 15th years 6,000 16th - 20th years 8,000 The annual fees only need to be paid since the year of grant, and then the ongoing years. For example, an applicant submitted his PCT application on Sep 27th, 2019, entered China by PCT national phase on Jan 26th, 2021 and finally got it granted on Jan 12th, 2024. What he should pay after receiving the grant notice is the 5th annuity of his Chinese patent.
Here’s the explanation:
This Chinese patent’s protection term starts from the PCT application date, which is Sep 27th, 2019.
Sep 27th, 2019 to Sep 26th, 2020 is the 1st year of the annual fee;
Sep 27th, 2020 to Sep 26th, 2021 is the 2nd year;
Sep 27th, 2021 to Sep 26th, 2022 is the 3rd year;
Sep 27th, 2022 to Sep 26th, 2023 is the 4th year;
Sep 27th, 2023 to Sep 26th, 2024 is the 5th year;
Since Chinese Patent Office issued the grant notice within the period of the 5th year, the applicant only needs to pay the annuity of the current year, namely the 5th year. The previous 4 years’ annuities are not required to be paid. Then after the grant year, this applicant should continue to pay the annuity of the 6th year from Sep 27th, 2024 to Sep 26th, 2025 and so on if he wishes to maintain his patent right.