China to expedite patent application review process

China is intensifying its efforts to enhance the efficiency of its patent application review process, aiming to reduce the examination time to 15.5 months within this year, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) said in its recently issued annual work guidelines. The processing time in 2023 was 16 months, making it one of the most efficient in the world. CNIPA also underscored its commitment to improving patent examination standards, particularly in emerging fields like big data, artificial intelligence, and gene technologies. In 2023, China saw the authorization of 921,000 invention patents, achieving an examination accuracy rate of 94.2 percent, as disclosed by Shen Changyu, Head of the CNIPA.