SIPO receives all Chinese patent applications submitted for examination. For utility model and design applications
The preliminary examination is a check to see if the application meets the requisite filing standards. The applicant is notified of any issues after the preliminary examination and is afforded a limited time to correct any errors or omissions. Once an application conforms to the statutory requirements, the application will publish within 18 months of the filing date, or earlier at the applicant's request.
Applicants for inventions have up to three years to formally request a substantive examination of the application. In the alternative SIPO may, on its own initiative choose to substantively examine any application. Amendments to an invention application may be made at the time of request or within 3 months of the initiation of substantive examination.
If, after a substantive examination, SIPO finds that the application does not meet the standards of novelty, inventiveness, practical applicability, or some combination thereof, the applicant is given an additional chance to amend or respond. After the applicant's response or amendment SIPO will make a final decision to deny or grant the invention patent application. As noted previously, a denied application may still be appealed to the PRB for reexamination, or the applicant may institute a legal proceeding to review the rejection.
