The initial protection is 5 years, which can be renewed every 5 years, up to a maximum of 25 years.
- via Paris Convention : 6 months from earliest priority date.
- Hague Agreement route: 6 months from earliest priority date.
no
- Grant fee: The applicant should pay the granted fee, registration fee and first annual fee within 4 months after receiving the granted decision.
- Annuity: pay year by year starting from the first year from the application date, the annual fee can be paid within a grace period of 6 months if the annual fee is overdue, and a 50% penalty must be paid at the same time.
Grant fee: The applicant should pay the granted fee, registration fee and first renewal fee within 2 months after receiving the granted decision.
Annuity: From the third year onwards from the date of application, it shall be paid year by year. The renewal fee should be paid within the last year of the current 5-year validity period, and the annual fee can be paid within a grace period of 6 months if the annual fee is overdue, and a 50% penalty must be paid at the same time.
yes. The applicant can request to change the patent type from utility model to invention before the patent is granted.
no
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 31 months from earliest priority date.
yes. The applicant may request that the patent application be changed from an invention to a utility model before the publication of the patent application but no later than the grant decision.
20 years, inventions of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and pesticides can enjoy a maximum patent term extension of 5 years.
Multiple variant designs may be included in one application if the designs relate to the same object and differ only in minor features, or can be identified as a set of goods and have a single design concept.