Decision of the National Intellectual Property Administration on Amending the Guidelines for Patent Examination (Order No. 84 of the Administration)
The Decision of the National Intellectual Property Administration on Amending the Guidelines for Patent Examination has been deliberated and adopted at the 5th Administrative Meeting held on September 18, 2025. It is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of January 1, 2026.
Summary of Amendments to the Guidelines for Patent Examination
Core Revision Overview
The amendments focus on improving the clarity, comprehensiveness, and adaptability of patent examination rules, covering key areas such as inventor identification, patent agency obligations, priority claims, subject matter eligibility, and examination procedures for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.
Key Amendment Details
1. Inventor and Patent Agency Provisions
Inventors must be natural persons, with true and complete identity information provided in the application. Units, collectives, or AI names (e.g., "XX Research Group" or "AI XX") are prohibited.
Patent agencies must verify the applicant’s identity information and contact details. Acting in their own name to apply for patents or request patent invalidation is regulated by the Patent Agency Regulations.
2. Priority Claim Rules
For divisional applications, if the original application claimed priority but the divisional application fails to declare it, priority is deemed unclaimed.
When multiple priorities are claimed, missing or incorrect information (e.g., filing date, application number, or original receiving office) may result in loss of priority if not corrected within the time limit.
3. Subject Matter Eligibility
Clearer definition of "plant varieties" as artificially selected/improved groups with consistent characteristics and stable genetic traits.
AI, big data, and algorithm-related applications are examined as a whole (integrating technical, algorithmic, and business rule features). Applications violating laws, public morality, or public interests (e.g., unauthorized collection of personal information, unethical AI decision-making based on gender/age) are ineligible for patents.
4. Examination of Emerging Technology Applications
For AI model-related applications, specifications must clearly disclose model modules, layers, training steps, and parameters; application scenarios and data input/output relationships must be detailed.
Lack of sufficient disclosure (e.g., unproven causal relationships between technical features and effects, missing key data) renders applications non-compliant.
5. Procedural and Fee Adjustments
"Res judicata" principle applies to invalidation requests: identical or substantially identical grounds/evidence are not accepted after a decision is made.
Sequence lists in computer-readable format are excluded from page count for application surcharges.
Fast-track examination is available for applications pre-examined by national IP protection centers.
6. Other Revisions
Terms in patent licensing records are updated (e.g., "licensor" instead of "transferor," "licensee" instead of "transferee").
Additional scenarios for "reasonable delays" in authorization include review procedures revoking rejection decisions based on new grounds/evidence.
