绿洲慧写 | AI 辅助专利撰写专家

Engagement of Patent Agencies

From Part I: Preliminary Examination Chapter 1: Preliminary Examination of Invention Patent Applications

1 Engagement

According to the first paragraph of Article 18 of the Patent Law, foreigners, foreign enterprises, or foreign organizations without a habitual residence or place of business in mainland China must engage a patent agency to apply for patents and handle other patent affairs in China, either individually or jointly as a representative with other applicants. If it is discovered during the examination that such applicants have not engaged a patent agency, the examiner should issue an Examination Opinion Notification, instructing the applicant to respond within a specified period. If the applicant does not respond within this period, their application is considered withdrawn. If the applicant’s statement or correction still fails to comply with the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 18 of the Patent Law, the patent application should be rejected.

Entities or individuals in mainland China applying for patents or handling other patent affairs, either individually or jointly as a representative with other applicants, may engage a patent agency. If the engagement does not comply with the regulations, the examiner should issue a Correction Notification, instructing the patent agency to correct within a specified period. If there is no response or the correction still fails to comply after the period, a notification should be issued to the applicant and the engaged patent agency that the engagement is considered not made.

Applicants from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan regions without a habitual residence or place of business in mainland China must engage a patent agency to apply for patents and handle other patent affairs with the Patent Office, either individually or jointly as a representative with other applicants. If a patent agency is not engaged, the examiner should issue an Examination Opinion Notification, instructing the applicant to respond within a specified period. If the applicant does not respond within this period, the examiner should issue a notification that the application is considered withdrawn. If the applicant’s statement or correction still fails to comply, the patent application should be rejected.

The parties involved in the engagement are the applicant and the engaged patent agency. If there are multiple applicants, the parties are all applicants and the engaged patent agency. Only one patent agency can be engaged, except as otherwise provided in this guide. Once a patent agency accepts the engagement, it should appoint no more than two patent agents from the agency to handle the relevant affairs.

2 Power of Attorney

When an applicant engages a patent agency to apply for a patent and handle other patent affairs with the Patent Office, they must submit a power of attorney. The power of attorney should use the standard form provided by the Patent Office, specifying the scope of authority, the name of the invention or creation, the name of the patent agency, and the names of the patent agents. It should be consistent with the content filled out in the request. If the power of attorney is submitted after the patent application number is determined, the patent application number should also be indicated.

If the applicant is an individual, the power of attorney should be signed or stamped by the applicant; if the applicant is an entity, it should be stamped with the entity’s official seal, and may also include the signature or seal of its legal representative; if there are multiple applicants, all applicants should sign or stamp. Additionally, the power of attorney should also be stamped with the official seal of the patent agency.

An applicant may submit a general power of attorney to the Patent Office when engaging a patent agency. Once the Patent Office receives a general power of attorney that meets the regulations, it should issue a general power of attorney number and notify the patent agency. When submitting a patent application with a stored general power of attorney, the general power of attorney number should be provided.

If the power of attorney does not comply with the regulations, the examiner should issue a Correction Notification, instructing the patent agency to correct within a specified period. If the applicant or representative is an entity or individual in mainland China, and there

is no response or the correction still fails to comply after the period, the examiner should issue a notification to both parties that the engagement of the patent agency is considered not made. If the applicant or representative is a foreigner, foreign enterprise, or foreign organization without a habitual residence or place of business in mainland China, and there is no response after the period, the examiner should issue a notification that the application is considered withdrawn. If the correction still does not comply, the patent application should be rejected. The same applies if the applicant or representative is an individual, enterprise, or organization from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan regions without a habitual residence or place of business in mainland China.

3 Revocation of Engagement and Resignation from Engagement

After an applicant (or patentee) has engaged a patent agency, they may revoke the engagement; likewise, a patent agency that has accepted an engagement from an applicant (or patentee) may resign from the engagement. The relevant regulations for handling the revocation and resignation procedures are provided in Section 6.7.2.4 of this chapter.