China deploys subsidy work for foreign patent applications

On May 27, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) held in Beijing a conference on subsidizing foreign patent applications and over 100 representatives from ministries and local IP offices were present at the meeting.

Related principal from the Patent Affairs Administration Department of SIPO summed up the work in subsidizing foreign patent applications in 2009. This year, the application period is from July 1 to August 15. The SIPO directly receives applications by central entities while provincial level IP departments receive applications in their jurisdiction scope. For the patent program subsidized in 2009, if patent application fees incurred in the recent one year, the subsidized patent program could still file subsidy application.

In the subsidy policy this year, for the patent program of which the patent applicant is natural person, if the natural person is the legal person of the enterprise, the subsidy application can be made in name of the enterprise.