Patent information from China and Taiwan Christine Kämmer European Patent Office AIDB Conference, Rome 06 June 2008

Content Some facts about patents Patent granting procedure The numbering system Free sources of patent information Search examples

CHINA

Some facts about patents in China early patent law developed in the 1980s main reasons participate in world trade attract foreign investment problem: clash of philosophies (patent monopoly vs. "people's property") previously: protection of IP rights considered concession to foreign investors today: growing national interest in IP protection

Some facts about patents in China 3 types of patent: invention (20 years), utility model (10 years), design (10 years) since 2003: more domestic Chinese than foreign patent applications in 2007: 245 161patent applications, 181 324 utility model applications

laid-open publication GONGKAI (A) request for examination Granting procedure patents from 2001 onwards application formality check classification laid-open publication GONGKAI (A) (18 months after filing date) request for examination (within 3 years of filing date) no request for examination withdrawal of application examination notification of pending refusal decision to grant patent decision of refusal publication of granted patent SHOUQUAN (C) appeal to Beijing First Intermediate Court appeal to Re-examination Board invalidation Invalidation must be requested with the Patent Re-examination Board appeal to Beijing First Intermediate Court decision to revoke decision to maintain

The numbering system in China application numbers: yyyytnnnnnnn.n (since October 2003) yytnnnnn.n (before October 2003) publication numbers: tnnnnnnnn (since August 2007) tnnnnnn (1989 - August 2007) y = year t = type of right n = serial number .n = check digit types of right (t): 1 = patent, 2 = utility model, 3 = design 8 = PCT patent, 9 = PCT utility model (only in application numbers)

The numbering system in China – Tips same number format, but different number used for Chinese laid-open and granted publications e. g. CN1030113 refers to two different documents application number links both publication stages of the same document CN 87104437 CN-A 1030113 CN-C 1024361 CN 85105070 CN-A 1006357 CN-C 1030113

Chinese Patent Office (SIPO) www.sipo.gov.cn/ sipo_English/ Free sources - English Patent search at the Chinese Patent Office (SIPO) www.sipo.gov.cn/ sipo_English/ patents and utility models from 1985 on English abstracts for patents bibliographic data for utility models NEW: Chinese-English machine translation (trial version) updated monthly; time lag: 3-4 months

China Patent Database (CNPAT) http://search.cnpat. com.cn/Search/EN/ Free sources - English China Patent Database (CNPAT) http://search.cnpat. com.cn/Search/EN/ patents, utility models and designs from 1985 on English abstracts for patents bibliographic data for utility models link to full documents (page by page, TIFF) NEW: Chinese-English machine translation (trial version) updated monthly; 3-4 months time lag

http://english.cnipr.com/ enpat/ Free sources – English (NEW!) China Intellectual Property Net (CNIPR) "C-Pat Search" http://english.cnipr.com/ enpat/ patents, utility models, designs from 1985 on abstracts for patents (human) and utility models (MT) bibliographic data for designs display and download of full documents (in one; TIFF) Chinese-English machine translation (trial version) English legal status information

Chinese Patent Office’s (SIPO) website Free source - Chinese Patent search at the Chinese Patent Office’s (SIPO) website www.sipo.gov.cn/ sipo2008/ patents, utility models and designs from 1985 on retrieval of full documents (page by page, TIFF) current legal status information payment of annual fees updated weekly

Search example – C-Pat Search search in patents, utility models, designs refine search http://english.cnipr.com/enpat/

Search example – C-Pat Search full document (TIFF) machine translation of full document machine-translated abstract for utility models English legal status http://english.cnipr.com/enpat/

Search example – C-Pat Search on-the-fly machine translation (claims, description) http://english.cnipr.com/enpat/

Search example – C-Pat Search display, download and print original document (TIFF) NOTE: special viewer necessary to display documents http://english.cnipr.com/enpat/

Search example – SIPO's website (retrieval of recent publications) http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo2008/zljs/

Search example – SIPO's website (retrieval of recent publications) NOTE: SIPO's special viewer is necessary to display documents http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo2008/zljs/

Search example – SIPO's website (legal status information) http://app.sipo.gov.cn:8080/sipo2008/zljs/searchflzt.jsp

TAIWAN

Some facts about patents in Taiwan Taiwan currently not signatory to any international treaties concerning IP rights since 1994: agreements on mutual recognition of patent priority with some countries (e.g. DE, JP, US, FR, UK...)  before Taiwan‘s WTO entry: only way for foreigners to obtain IP protection WTO entry in 2002: related treaties for all WTO member economies (e.g. TRIPS) apply! applicants who first filed in Taiwan can claim priority in another WTO member economy and vice versa

Some facts about patents in Taiwan 3 types of patent: invention (20 yrs), utility model (10 yrs), design (12 yrs) domestic patent applications increased fivefold within the last 10 years in 2006: 50 111 patent applications, 23 279 utility model applications (source: annual report TIPO)

Granting procedure patents from 2004 onwards application formality check classification laid-open publication (GONGKAI) (18 months after filing date) request for examination (within 3 years of filing date) no request for examination withdrawal of application examination decision of refusal appeal to Administrative Supreme Court decision to grant request for re-examination publication of granted patent & issue of certificate (FAZHENG) appeal to Administrative High Court* appeal to Ministry of Economic Affairs invalidation appeal to Ministry of Economic Affairs decision to revoke decision to maintain (* or IP Court from mid-2008 on)

The numbering system in Taiwan - Republican (Minguo) years used since founding of the Republic of China by Sun Yat-sen in 1912 patent context: used in application numbers and dates, in databases and on documents easily confused with two-digit Western years! Conversion rule for Minguo years: Minguo year + 1911 = Western year (Example: Minguo 97 = 2008)

The numbering system in Taiwan application numbers: (y)yytnnnnn unexamined publication numbers (>2003): yyyynnnnn y = Minguo (Republican) year t = type of right y = Western year n = serial number types of right (t): 1 = patent, 2 = utility model, 3 = design (application numbers)

The numbering system in Taiwan examined publication numbers (<2004): nnnnnn granted publication numbers (> 2004): tnnnnnn t = type of right n = serial number types of right (t): I = patent, M = utility model, D = design (grant numbers)

The numbering system in Taiwan - Tips search with number "TW 260643" may give three different results: TW I260643: granted patent (after 2004), application date 30 December 2005 TW M260643: registered utility model; application date 25 March 2003 TW 260643: examined patent publication (before 2004), application date 15 May 1995

Free source - English Taiwan Intellectual Property Office's (TIPO) Patent Index www.tipo.gov.tw/eng/ search for patents and utility models data from 1998 onwards for granted documents data from 2003 onwards for unexamined publications English abstracts for patents bibliographic data for utility models updated monthly; ca. 6 months time lag

Free source - planned features (July 2008) Taiwan Intellectual Property Office's (TIPO) Patent Index www.tipo.gov.tw/eng/ display and download of original documents of patents, utility models and designs via an English search interface English legal status information for granted patents and utility models

Search example – TIPO Patent Index NOTE: IPC search currently not possible! http://www.tipo.gov.tw/eng/howto/blsearch.asp

Search example – TIPO Patent Index http://www.tipo.gov.tw/eng/howto/trans.asp

Search example – TIPO Patent Index NOTE: Before 01 January 2008, English abstracts were also available for granted documents (TW-B)! http://www.tipo.gov.tw/eng/howto/patdetail.asp?pn=I287199&filingno=093103377

Free sources - Chinese TIPO's patent gazette http://patentog.tipo.gov.tw/tipo/twpat.htm search in patent, utility model, design gazettes bibliographic data, abstract, representative drawing for unexamined publications (PDF) bibliographic data, claims, drawings for granted documents (PDF) published three times per month

Taiwan Patent Network (TWPAT) Free sources - Chinese Taiwan Patent Network (TWPAT) www.twpat.com search for patents, utility models and designs original full documents page by page (PDF) documents updated in rhythm with the gazette legal status information (updated daily)

Search example - TWPAT click here go to the free search interface http://www.twpat.com/Webpat/Default.aspx

Search example - TWPAT select publication number, application number or grant number enter number here and click "search" http://free.twpat.com/Webpat/freeZone/default.aspx

Search example - TWPAT click here to go to the original document TIP: Chinese bibliography, abstract and claims can be copied into an online translation tool http://free.twpat.com/Webpat/freeZone/default.aspx

Search example - TWPAT click here to save or print the document (page by page) NOTE: Acrobat reader is required to display the original documents application date: 12 February 2004 http://free.twpat.com/Webpat/freeZone/default.aspx

Searching in databases - Tips and guides Content on Taiwan to be added soon... http://www.epo.org/patents/patent-information/east-asian/helpdesk/china/search.html

EPO Vienna Your gateway to East Asia asiainfo@epo.org www.epo.org/patents/patent-information/east-asian.html http://eastmeetswest.european-patent-office.org