Official fees, fee-reduction filings, annuity deadlines and late-payment rules for Chinese patents, with side-by-side comparisons against the US, EPO, Japan, Korea and Germany.
A China filing quote is issued before the claim count, page count and translation volume exist. Here is where the estimate breaks — and a calculator that prices both halves of the cost precisely.
Taking China's rules as the baseline, this guide compares patent annuity regimes in China, the United States, the EPO, Japan, Korea and Germany through five variables: base date, starting point, payment rhythm, grace period and late-payment cost, and lapse and restoration.
Patent annuities in China are prepaid annually — miss one and the right can be lost for good. Deadlines, official fees, surcharges and the 6-month / 2-month remediation windows, plus a free annuity monitoring service.
Filing a patent related to your former job within one year after resignation makes it a service invention owned by the former employer. This article explains the statutory one-year quarantine period, the Supreme People's Court's four-factor test, three routes of liability, and the Geely v. WM Motor judgment of about RMB 640 million — plus a departure checklist for R&D staff and employers, and a 7-question FAQ.
A structured overview of CNIPA official fees for foreign applicants: application and substantive examination fees, annuities for invention, utility model and design patents, PCT savings, Hague designation fees and the fee reduction scheme. All figures in CNY, based on the CNIPA schedule updated in August 2024.
Zhihai Yida Without a fee reduction in place, filing a patent can represent a considerable cost for small enterprises and
