The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on October 26, 2021 released the exposure draft of the administrative measures for foreign patent firms’ Chinese representative offices to solicit public comment. This move is a follow-up to the 3-year pilot program announced by the CNIPA one year ago to allow foreign patent firms to open up representative offices in Beijing and Jiangsu province.

To establish a representative office in China, the following conditions must be met:

1. The foreign patent firm is legally registered in its home country;

2. The foreign patent firm has literally practiced in its home country for over 5 years without being subject to any self-governing ordinance or administrative penalty;

3. The chief representative of the office shall have full capacity for civil conduct and a qualification certificate as a patent agent. The chief representative shall have practiced as a patent agent for over 2 years without being subject to any self-governing ordinance or administrative penalty;

4. The foreign patent firm has more than 10 patent agents practicing in its own country.

The business scope of the representative offices is:

(1) Offer services where the foreign patent firm is legally permitted to practice;

(2) Accept commissions where the foreign patent firm is legally permitted to practice;

(3) Offer services for Chinese companies in terms of investment, early-phase risk management, protection of rights and other matters in overseas countries;

(4) Commission Chinese patent firms to act for cases on behalf of foreign clients.

Representative offices shall operate in compliance with Chinese laws, without engaging in Chinese patents filing, application, or invalidation.

The full text is available here.