New initiatives launched to promote patent commissioning services

With a view to tackling prominent problems on patent commission raised by stakeholders and improving patent commissioning services, Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of Patent Commission hereof is issued by the State Intellectual Property Office.

Three spotlights in the newly released document are worth attention. Firstly, it relaxes restrictions on enrolling for patent agent qualification examinations so as to attract more postgraduate students to join in the industry as soon as they leave school. Secondly, several adjustments in the process of certifying patent commission related working experience are made to invite qualified personnel to work as patent agents. Thirdly, conditions of opening a new patent agency in an area where demand is enormous and patent practitioners are inadequate are loosened in a bid to strike a balance of resource allocation among diffident areas.

The document also includes strategies in terms of industry exit mechanisms, market environment and industry supervision. Its launch will help further improve patent commissioning system and its level and expand the service scale of the industry. It is reported that patent commission forms an important part of patent industry and is a great support for the effective functioning of the patent system. The service level of patent commission may have significant impact in enhancing the capability in creating, utilizing, protecting and administrating intellectual property rights in China. [Chinese version is available on sipo.gov.cn]