In the past two years, the provisions related to the design patent system in China's Patent Law and Patent Examination Guide have been greatly modified, mainly including: extending the protection period, protecting local designs, requiring domestic priority and postponing the examination.

Partial design patents

Paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the newly amended Patent Law stipulates: "Design means any new design of the overall or partial shape or pattern of a product or its combination, as well as the combination of color and shape or pattern, which is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application."

The design patent claims domestic priority

New changes of the second paragraph of article 29 of the "patent law" regulation: "the applicant since the invention or utility model is put forward for the first time in China 12 months from the date of application for a patent, or from an application for a patent for design is put forward for the first time in China within six months from the date of the, again to the administrative department for patent under the State Council on the same theme files an application for a patent, can enjoy priority."

Term of protection of a design patent

Article 42 of the newly amended Patent Law stipulates: "The duration of patent right for inventions shall be twenty years, the duration of patent right for utility models shall be ten years, and the duration of patent right for designs shall be fifteen years, counted from the date of filing."

Deferred examination

The guidelines, which came into force on November 1, 2019, specify the postponement of examination as follows: "An applicant may request postponement of examination of an invention or design patent application. A request for postponing the examination of a patent for invention shall be made by the applicant at the same time as the request for substantive examination, but the request for postponing the examination of an application for a patent for invention shall take effect as of the date on which the request for substantive examination becomes effective. The request for delayed examination of a design shall be made by the applicant at the same time as the submission of the design application. The postponement period shall be one, two or three years from the effective date of the request for postponement of review. After the expiration of the delay period, the applications will be considered sequentially. If necessary, the Patent Office may initiate the examination procedure on its own and notify the applicant, and the period for postponing the examination requested by the applicant shall be terminated."

On the one hand, the above modification can expand the scope of protection of design patent and protect appearance products more comprehensively; on the other hand, it can make the application of domestic design patent meet the requirements of "The Hague Agreement", and make a good preparation for China to join "The Hague Agreement" smoothly.

Source: China Intellectual Property Magazine