China cuts down papers to embrace electronic certificates

According to CNIPA’s Announcement No. 349 for the “Related Matters about Electronic Patent Certificates and Electronic Seal for Electronic Patent Applications” released in January 2020, for all electronic patent applications which are granted on or after March 3 of 2020, CNIPA issued patent certificates only in an electronic form via the e-filing system.[1] Paper certificates were no longer provided by default. But the applicants were permitted to make requests case-by-case to demand hard copies on the e-filing system if needed.

In February 2022, about two years later after Announcement No. 349, the CNIPA further made Announcement No. 472,[2] ceased all hard copies issuance of patent certificates. As a part of the effort to strengthen digitalization of administrative efficiency by implementing comprehensive e-government measures, CNIPA vows to create a one-portal accessibility for all patent services. From March 1st of 2022, CNIPA no longer accepts any requests for paper patent certificates. Accordingly, electronic patent certificates will be the only form of document that the patentee receives. To ensure security and credibility, the authenticity of an electronic certificate can be verified on the patent e-filing platform.

As for applications for trademark registrations, CNIPA had an Announcement No. 453 in October of 2021 to address that no more hard copies of trademark registrations were available starting from January 1st, 2022.[3] Applications that were filed in papers will be issued a Notification to Receive the Certificate for Trademark Registration at the time of allowance. The applicants are able to retrieve the certificate from online based on the instructions in the Notification. Similarly, for e-filed applications, the applicants are able to download trademark registration certificates from the e-filing system on their own.