no
- Grant fee: The applicant should pay the granted official 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: The applicant needs to pay the annual fee for the next stage in the sixth year and the eighth year respectively. Overdue annual fee can be paid within a grace period of 6 months. At the same time, 30% of the annual fee of the current year will be paid as a penalty.
The PPO only conducts formality examination of utility model patent applications, only examines novelty and industrial applicability, and does not examine inventive step.
Reinstatement of priority is accepted on grounds of "due care."
1-6 months
yes
2-4 years
10 years
Reinstatement of priority is accepted on grounds of "due care."
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.
- 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.