In China, measures for the reduction or postponement of the payment of patent fees were implemented on November 13, 2006. Due to the rapid economic development, the Chinese government found some of the provisions could not meet the current demand and thus revised the measures. The new measures for the reduced payment of patent fees are jointly announced by the Ministry of Finance and National Development and Reform Commission to be effective from September 1, 2016.
The applicant or patentee can file a request with the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) for the reduction of the following patent fees:
- Patent application fee
- Examination fee for invention patent
- Annuity fee (within six consequent years from the grant of patent)
- Re-examination fee
The applicant or patentee who could enjoy the reduced fees is as follows:
- An individual whose average monthly income of the previous year was less than RMB3,500
- An enterprise whose taxable income of the previous year was less than RMB300,000
- Public institution, social organization or non-profit scientific research organization.
If there are two or above individuals/enterprises, each applicant or patentee must meet the respective requirement above. For sole applicant or patentee, the reduction could be 85% of the full payment; for joint applicant or patentee, the reduction could be 70% of the full payment.
In addition, an evidencing document must be submitted when requesting for the reduction of fees, and thus it may be difficult for foreign applicant or patentee to fulfill the requirements of such request. In fact, the Chinese government has offered subsidies to implement the new reduction measures which aim to reduce the burden of national applicant or patentee so as to encourage the innovation and bolster the patent filings.
