A novelty grace period of 6 months prior to the filing date/priority date may be granted if the invention is disclosed as a result of apparent misuse by the applicant or its former right holders, or if the invention is exhibited at an official or officially recognized exhibition.
Reinstatement of priority on grounds of "due care" and "unintentional/due care" accepted.
yes. Prior to patent grant/rejection, the patent type can be converted from utility model to invention at the request of the applicant. Can only be converted once.
via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
via Nationalization of PCT : 30 months from the earliest priority date.
Validation of European Patent in EPO member states: within 3 months from the date of grant of the European patent.
1 month
The initial protection is 5 years, which can be renewed 4 times for a maximum protection of 25 years.
- via Paris Convention : 6 months from earliest priority date.
- EU route: 6 months from earliest priority date.
- Hague Agreement route: 6 months from earliest priority date.
yes. If multiple designs have at least one of the same category, a maximum of 50 designs can be included in one design.
- Authorization Fee: None
- Annuity: After the granted, it will be paid year by year from the 6th year from the date of application, and should be paid within 3 months before the date of application each year. If the annual fee is overdue, the payment can be postponed within a grace period of 6 months, but a surcharge of 20% is required. There is no late fee for the first three months of the late payment period for the first annual fee (i.e. the sixth year).
If within 12 months before the filing of the design patent application, due to the disclosure of the designer or its former right holder, the novelty grace period can be enjoyed.
20 years. Patented medicines and plant protection new varieties can obtain an additional 5-year renewal period, and children's medicines can obtain an additional half-year patent protection period.