1-6 months
Reinstatement of priority is accepted on grounds of "due care."
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 30 months from the earliest priority date.
- Validation of European Patent in EPO member states: 3 months from the date of European patent grant.
The PPO only conducts formality examination of utility model patent applications, only examines novelty and industrial applicability, and does not examine inventive step.
4-5 years
yes
2-4 years
- Grant fee: The applicant should pay the granted fee, announcement fee and the first annual fee (that is, the annual fee for the first to third years) within 3 months after receiving the notification of the granted decision.
- Annuity: Pay year by year in the first year from the date of application. Overdue annual fee can be paid within a grace period of 6 months. At the same time, 30% of the year's annual fee will be paid as a late fee.
no
The PPO conducts formal and substantive examinations of invention patent applications. There is no need to file a request for substantive examination, and the substantive examination starts automatically.
no