I. Drafting background
In order to better contribute to the upgrading of the industrial structure and to the implementation of the national intellectual property strategy, the national intellectual property agency has in recent years introduced a model of continuous and innovative reviews, followed by priority reviews, tours and good results. With the growing innovation capacity of our innovation agents and the increased level of intellectual property protection, there is a growing public demand for centralized scrutiny of the series of patent applications around a key technology. Several state council opinions on accelerating the construction of intellectual property power in new situations, issued in 2015 no. 71 (hereinafter referred to as “doc. 71”) also explicitly requires “the establishment of a centralized system for the review of patent applications for priority advantage industries”. To this end, the national intellectual property agency has drafted the " centralized review of patent applications management scheme (the pilot) " (the " approach " ), based on the results of research and pilot work on previous topics。
Ii. Main contents
(i) what are the conditions of application for centralized reviews?
The focus of the review is on a portfolio of patent applications for inventions around a key technology, which meets the need for a patented layout rather than an expedited review of the case. Article 3 of the scheme provides that the conditions for its application include four aspects: first, that all patent applications for inventions in the same instalment are at the stage of substantive review, and that the effective date of the review does not exceed one year, in which applications for new and practical invention patents for the same inventions on the same date are excluded from the centralized review. Second, in the light of national needs, the review focused on applications that involved priority industries of national advantage or were of great importance to national interests and the public interest. Thirdly, the number of requests for centralized review in the same instalment was not less than 50. Fourth, in order to avoid duplication in the allocation of resources for review, requests for other review policies, such as those that have been prioritized for review, are no longer included in the centralized review。
All of the above points make clear the difference from the priority review management approach and focus on each, focusing on high-quality volume cases with a focus on patent layout, and on high-quality cases with a priority review。
(ii) which subjects may request centralized review?
A centralized review is initiated upon request, either by the patent applicant or by the provincial intellectual property authorities. Where there are multiple applicants, the consent of all applicants shall be obtained。
(iii) what material does the request require to be submitted in a centralized review?
A centralized review of the applicant is required to submit a request for a central review of patent applications, as well as a list of patent applications (the list is to be submitted in one copy in paper and in electronic form) (see annexes 1 and 2) and other material required. The request shall contain the signature or seal of the applicant, the contact person and contact information, the technical field to which it belongs, the reasons for the request for centralized review and all patent applicants. In particular, the request should specify the reasons for the request for centralized review, and the electronic application list should include a description of the relationship of each patent application to the “key technology” claimed, which would assist the national intellectual property agency in determining the need for and feasibility of centralized review。
(iv) how can requests for centralized review be submitted?
A centralized review of the request may be sent by letter, with an electronic copy of the patent application list being sent with the paper in the form of a cd-rom medium。
The address of the mail is: the office of patents of the state intellectual property office, no. 6 west turk city road, haidian district, beijing, reviews the department of operations administration, ed. 100088 (please indicate on the envelope “centralized review”)。
(v) how is the outcome of the review of requests centralized?
The outcome of the centralized review request will be fed back to the contact person in a timely manner through the contact information indicated in the request. Applications that have been approved and decided not to be centrally reviewed will continue to be reviewed in accordance with regular procedures。
(vi) how does the applicant need to cooperate in the centralized review process?
In order to improve the quality of the review, the focus was more on adequate communication with applicants during the review process. In the process of implementation, applicants should actively cooperate with requests from departmental units, provide relevant technical information, and cooperate with technical presentations, meetings, research, mobile reviews, etc。
(vii) under what circumstances would the centralized review of patent applications be terminated?
Article 9 of the scheme lists several typical cases of termination of the centralized review process: first, where the applicant submitted false material contrary to the principle of good faith; second, where the applicant did not cooperate with the provision of relevant technical information, the conduct of technical presentations, meetings, research and circuit reviews, etc., to facilitate the centralized review; third, where an irregular application was found during the review process in the instalment; and fourth, where the applicant initiated a request to discontinue the centralized review. It should be noted that once one of the above-mentioned conditions has been triggered, the entire series of cases will be discontinued and the centralized review process converted to regular review。
(viii) what are the requirements for closure time limits and response time limits to be reviewed in a focused manner?
Unlike the priority review, the centralized review involved a large number of applications, each of which would vary significantly, leaving no maximum deadline for the closure of cases。
The deadline for a patent applicant to respond to a notice of review is the same as in an ordinary case, and the slowness of the applicant's response will have an impact on the timing of the next notification of review by the review department。
Annex 1: patent application centralized review request
Annex 2: list of patent applications for inventions for which focused review
