agreements中國DesignExamination GuidePatent Law
2023年1月4日

FOLLOW UP: Amendments to the China Patent Examination Guidelines in 2022 – Part 1: New rules for designs in view of China signing onto the Hague Agreement

Since the publication of our earlier article about China signing onto the Hague Agreement, some of our Hong Kong clients have expressed interest in taking advantage of the Hague international design application system, i.e., filing a Hague international design application with the CNIPA (Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration) as a receiving office (RO).

Up until this moment, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the CNIPA[1] have been silent on whether a Hong Kong design applicant without a habitual residence or business office in mainland China would be eligible to file a Hague international design application with the CNIPA as a RO.

We recently brought this matter forward to the CNIPA. The CNIPA confirmed that Hong Kong applicants without a habitual residence or business office in mainland China are not eligible to file such type of application with the CNIPA.

A Hague application currently does not cover Hong Kong nor Macao

Although China is included in the current list of the contracting parties of the Hague Agreement, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR – both separate jurisdictions having distinct Basic Laws from the People Republic of China – are not included.

This means that Hong Kong and Macao design applicants must file independent design applications in these two regions.

Despite the current situation, things may change in the future. China’s “instrument of accession” (legal document indicating China’s agreement to join the Hague Agreement) provides room for change, stating that the current situation stands “until otherwise notified by the Government of the People’s Republic of China”[2]. This means that China has already included provisions allowing it to provide notification of changes regarding Hong Kong and Macao in the future.

Stay tuned for more upcoming articles about the other changes in the proposed Patent Examination Guidelines.

This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice or a legal opinion on a specific set of facts.

  1. https://www.wipo.int/hague/en/

    https://www.wipo.int/hague/memberprofiles/selectmember#/

    https://www.wipo.int/hague/en/news/2022/news_0005.html

    https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/notifications/hague/treaty_hague_146.html

    https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/treaties/ShowResults?search_what=C&treaty_id=9

    https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/col/col2893/index.html

    https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2022/10/31/art_75_180016.html

    https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/module/download/downfile.jsp?classid=0&showname=附件1:《专利审查指南修改草案(再次征求意见稿)》修改对照表.pdf&filename=dab071af523943b49eaf1114a84b6234.pdf

  2. https://www.wipo.int/hague/en/news/2022/news_0005.html

About the Authors

Polly Wong is a Patent Trainee at Eagle IP, a Boutique Patent Firm with offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macau.

Pauli Wong is a Principal and Chinese Patent Attorney at Eagle IP, a Boutique Patent Firm with offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macau.

Jennifer Che, J.D. is Vice President, Principal, and a US Patent Attorney at Eagle IP, a Boutique Patent Firm with offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macau.

其他文章

How the Chinese Patent Office Rejected a Plate-Making Method Based on Food Safety Law

2022年10月19日
Previously we published an article about CNIPA rejecting a patent application claiming a food that could also be used to treat or prevent diseases based on the food’s alleged non-compliance with Food Safety Law. China’s Food Safety Law includes a provision which states any use of a composition as a food must be strictly separated […]

Markush claims in China - what can be arbitrarily deleted during invalidation?

2018年12月4日
Since 2010, the China Patent Re-examination Board (PRB) has published the top 10 patent invalidation cases of the year in April of each year. The selection criteria are high social concern, significant impact on the related industry, or involve difficult legal issues and important examination criteria. Below is one of the top 10 cases that […]

China Patent Office (CNIPA) Releases More Details About Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) in the Draft Examination Guidelines

2021年10月19日
The new 4th Amendment of the Chinese Patent Law came into effect on June 1, 2021. Right before that date, the Chinese Patent Office (“CNIPA”) released some “Interim Measures” to give us a taste of what was to come, though they have yet to released the actual Implementation Rules. Two months later, CNIPA finally released […]

RNAi Patent Success in China: Overcoming “Comprising” Claim Challenges

2025年3月10日
An Update on Sufficiency and Inventiveness of RNAi Patents in China RNAi is a fast-developing technology that has gained traction in the pharmaceutical industry as a promising therapeutic agent. It is important to follow closely RNAi patent proceedings to learn how different examination boards and courts understand and handle these new technologies. The first-ever invalidation […]

我們過去活動

Top crossarrow-right