Some Notes for the Official Fees Chinese Patent Applications
1).The basic filing fee, priority claim fee (if applicable), publication fee (applicable for patent applications), additional fees (including excess claim fee and application size fee) are required to be paid to the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) along or after the application filing.
2).For direct filing or applications entered by Paris Convention route, the fees can be paid within two months after the filing of application, or within 15 days after receipt of the filing receipt.
3).For applications entered by PCT route, the fees can be paid after the filing or within 30-month deadline. However, the national entry date shown on the filing receipt will be the later of Chinese application filing date or the payment date.
4).Besides, for PCT applications which are not filed or searched by the CNIPA, some national stage fees may be waived. Specifically,
for PCT applications filed with the CNIPA, some basic fees, e.g., basic filing fee, excess filing fee and 50% of the fee for requesting substantive examination will be waived during the Chinese national stage.
for PCT applications searched by the CNIPA, 50% of the fee for requesting substantive examination will be waived during the Chinese national stage.
or PCT applications searched by the European Patent Office, Japan Patent Office and Swedish Patent and Registration Office, 20% of the fee for requesting substantive examination will be waived during the Chinese national stage.
5).All fees can be paid in advance of each stage. And since the process of the payment are quite complex for applicant outside China, it is suggested that the applicant appoint an agent or an agent firm to represent the filing of the application.
6).After the registration process is finished, the annuity fees need to be paid to the CNIPA each year to maintain the patent in force.
7).For applicants located in Mainland China, it may enjoy an official fee reduction policy if it complies with the rules prescribed by the CNIPA. But for applicants located outside of China, it is hard to comply with the requirements for fee reduction.
