China joined two WIPO treaties – the Hague Agreement and the Marrakesh Treaty
On February 5th, 2022, China officially deposited its accession documents for entering the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Marrakesh Treaty (which increases the accessibility of publications to people with visual impairment), before the commencement of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. The accession will take effect on May 5th, 2022.
China became the 68th contracting party to the Geneva Act (1999) of the Hague Agreement and, therefore, the 77th member of the Hague System. Chinese residents are now able to conveniently secure their design rights in other Hague member countries by filing one application, thus saving both time and costs. In order to be brought in line with the Hague System, China’s design patent term was extended to 15 years for new applications filed on or after June 1, 2021.
Of particular importance, China made a statement to adapt its own national legislations for designs, as below.
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Content
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Details
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Source in Geneva Act 1999 & Common Regulations
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Additional Mandatory Contents of the International Application
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A brief description of the characteristic features of the industrial design
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Article 5(2)(b)(ii)
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Individual Designation Fee
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China’s own designation fees applies rather than the prescribed designation fee
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Article 7(2)
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Design/Reproduction
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Unity requirement instituted; certain specified views of products required
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Article 13(1); Rule 9(3)(a)
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Refusals
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Notification of refusal of an international registration by China shall be made within 12 months instead of 6 months
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Rule 18(1)(b); Article 12(2)
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Date of Effect of the International Registration
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Extension of up to 6 months from the end of the refusal period (12 months); Unintentional late communication after the refusal period (12 months)
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Rules 18(1)(c)(i) and (ii) ; Article 14(2)
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Other
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Statements or documents in support of changing ownership requirement
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Article 16(2)
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China’s accession to the Hague System does not apply in the Hong Kong SAR and the Macau SAR, unless it is otherwise notified.
Although the Hague System may help the filing of single applications, the CNIPA shall necessarily carry out examinations according to the domestic requirements for lawful design patents, and shall investigate the document formalities and apparent defects such as lack of novelty or unity where a search is required. While the Hague System allows 100 designs under the same Locarno class per international application, China permits up to 10 embodiments sharing the same Locarno subclass in one application. In addition, China has a set of particular rules for drawings. Shadows and reflections resulting from different levels of brightness of an object in a perspective view are not allowed. An international application having any elements that are inconsistent with the domestic requirements will lead to a refusal.
What is more, engagement with a local agent is inevitable when a matter dealing with the CNIPA arises. For a foreign applicant with no domicile or business establishments, the application should be represented by a Chinese agent and the responses to the refusal should be submitted via a Chinese agent.
All other local rules in relation to international applications under the Hague System are pursuant to the Patent Examination Guidelines, which are currently in draft form and therefore not yet in effect (at the time of publishing of this article in March).
In addition to the Hague Agreement, China joined the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, which is dedicated to facilitating the accessibility of textual works to those with visual impairment. It is estimated that there are 17 million visually impaired people in China. Under the Marrakesh Treaty, these people will be able to benefit from the simpler creation and international transfer of the modified versions of textual works. WIPO's Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) will collaborate with NGOs and stakeholders to greatly increase the number of Chinese-language books available in visually impaired-friendly formats.
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