How do foreign companies apply for patents?

With the increasing number of international exchanges in recent years, more and more foreigners want to come to China for investment and transactions. This involves very important legal issues, patent protection. So how do foreign companies apply for patents? Today, the editor of Legal Savior Network has compiled the following content for you, hoping it will be helpful to you.

How does a foreign company apply for a patent?

That is, it has a habitual residence in China Or foreigners, foreign enterprises or other foreign organizations with business offices and foreigners, foreign enterprises or other foreign organizations without regular residence or business offices in China, and shall be dealt with separately according to different situations.

Two different situation handling methods:

For foreigners, foreign enterprises or other foreign organizations that do not have a habitual residence or business office in China to request patent rights in China, according to Article 18 of the Patent Law The regulations can be handled according to the following three different situations

(1) If the foreigner’s country has signed a bilateral agreement with China, the matter shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the agreement.

(2) If the foreigner’s country joins an international treaty with China, the matter shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the international treaty.

(3) Two types of processing according to the principle of reciprocity

One ​​is if a certain If a foreign patent law unconditionally allows foreigners to apply for patents in that country, China also allows citizens and legal persons of that country to enjoy the treatment of Chinese citizens and legal persons;

2 If the patent law of a foreign country stipulates that nationals of other countries are allowed to apply for patents in that country on the condition that the other country grants national treatment to the foreign national, then the Chinese patent law can grant national treatment to the foreign national.

Any foreigner, foreign enterprise or other foreign organization that does not meet the above three conditions and does not have a habitual residence or business office in China cannot enter China apply for patent.

InForeigners, foreign enterprises or other foreign organizations with state-owned habitual residence or business offices who apply for patents must submit legal documents requesting protection of their inventions and creations to the State Intellectual Property Office just like Chinese people. These documents are the basis for the State Intellectual Property Office to review and decide whether to grant a patent right. They are also the basis for the scope of rights protected by the patent law after the applicant obtains the patent right. The Patent Law and its implementing regulations provide unified regulations on the form of patent application documents. All application documents submitted by the applicant shall use the unified form formulated by the State Intellectual Property Office, and the text shall be uniformly in Chinese. If there is no unified Chinese translation of foreign names, place names or scientific terms, the original text should be indicated in brackets after the Chinese translation. If the various certificates and certification documents submitted by foreign applicants in accordance with regulations are in foreign languages, the State Intellectual Property Office may require the applicant to attach Chinese translations within a specified period if it deems it necessary.

Foreign applicants applying for invention and utility model patents shall submit documents such as a request, description, drawings, claims, and abstract. Applicants applying for a design patent should submit a request and documents such as pictures or photos of the design, and should also state the name of the product using the design and the category of the product.

After the application is submitted, the State Intellectual Property Office will review and approve the patent application.

Relevant legal basis

"Patent Law" Tenth Article 8 can be handled according to the following three different situations

(1) If the foreigner’s country has signed a bilateral agreement with China, it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the agreement.

(2) If the foreigner’s country joins an international treaty with China, the matter shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the international treaty.

(3) Two types of treatment according to the principle of reciprocity

The above is about foreigners Parties can refer to some reference requirements and practices for applying for patents in my country. In addition, parties can also consult local lawyers or patent management agencies to obtain more detailed process knowledge. If you still have questions, Legal Savior Network also provides online lawyer consultation services. You are welcome to conduct online consultation.