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25 March 2019Patents

China to reduce patent review period by 15%

A senior Chinese official has said that the country is to “cut the time needed for patent review” by at least 15%, it has been reported.

Gan Shaoning, deputy head of the National Intellectual Property Administration (SIPO), made the announcement at the 20th China Development Forum on Saturday, March 23, according to state news agency  Xinhua.

The period for reviewing trademark applications is also set to fall to “within five months”, Gan said.

The reports did not confirm whether the “patent review period” refers to the amount of time it takes to obtain a patent from the date of the application. WIPR has sought clarification from SIPO.

Chinese law firm CCPIT says that it takes on average 22 months to obtain a patent in China.

Shaoning also reiterated the Chinese government’s wider commitment to improving the country’s IP protection regime.

The plans include increasing the penalty for infringements, “and treating all market entities as equals in terms of IP protection”.

China recently pledged to formally ban “forced technology transfer”, a practice whereby foreign companies are allegedly forced to hand over IP in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

Chinese authorities have denied that such practices take place. Nonetheless, China’s new Foreign Investment Law will outlaw any coerced technology transfer from a foreign company.

The law was approved at the second session of the 13th National People’s Congress, the national parliament of China, earlier this month.

The patent review pledge comes after China announced plans to impose stricter penalties for IP infringement.

Last December, WIPR  reported that Chinese authorities had outlined a series of new measures to crack down on infringing activity, including a ban on offenders registering a company and accessing state financial aid.

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