The Chinese government recently announced a notice on lowering the administrative and institutional fees including trademark registration and also extending the term for remission fees of patent annuity. The changes in connection with trademark and patent, etc. are listed below.
Trademark Registration
(Trademark Office of The State Administration For Industry and Commerce)
The current official fee for trademark registration is RMB800 per mark/class. Starting from October 15, 2015, the new official fee will be decreased to RMB600 per mark with less than 10 items of goods/services in a class, and an additional fee of RMB60 will be incurred for one additional item more than 10 items of goods/services.
Software Copyright
(State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television)
Starting from October 15, 2015, its official fee for registration will be lowered from RMB250 to RMB200, with its certificate fee from RMB50 to RMB20.
Protection for New Varieties of Plants
(The Ministry of Agriculture / The State Forestry Administration)
The current annual fee for plant variety right is RMB1000 each year from the first to six years and RMB1500 each year for the following years. Starting from October 15, 2015, the annual fee of RMB1000 for the former 6 years remains unchanged but the annual fee for the following years will be lowered to RMB1200.
Reduction of Patent Annuity Fees
(The State Intellectual Property Office)
Per the prevailing “Measures for the Reduction or Postponement of the Payment of Patent Fees”, if the applicant or patentee has difficulty to pay patent fees including application fees, examination fees, annuity fees, etc., he may file a request to reduce or postpone the payment of said relevant fees, accompanied by evidencing document if requested. Among these applicable fees, the patentee can request for the reduction of annuity fees for three consequent years from the grant of patent, which will be extended to six consequent years per the revised provisions starting from January 1, 2016. The current reduced annuity fees are listed below.
Invention Patent Annuity Fees (RMB per year)
| Years | 1st to 3rd | 4th to 6th | 7th to 9th | 10th to 12th | 13th to 15th | 16th to 20th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| full rate | 900 | 1200 | 2000 | 4000 | 6000 | 8000 |
| 70% less | 270 | 360 | 600 | 1200 | 1800 | 2400 |
| 85% less | 135 | 180 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1200 |
Utility Model / Design Patent Annuity Fees (RMB per year)
| Years | 1st to 3rd | 4th to 5th | 6th to 8th | 9th to 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| full rate | 600 | 900 | 1200 | 2000 |
| 70% less | 180 | 270 | 360 | 600 |
| 85% less | 90 | 135 | 180 | 300 |
The above less than 70% of full rate is applicable to a sole owner of business entity, or joint owners of both individual and business entity, or joint owners of two or more individuals, whereas the above less than 80% of full rate is applicable only to a sole owner of individual, and therefore the joint owners of two or more business entities are not eligible for the reduction of patent fees per the provisions of this measures.
