Newsletter
SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR PATENT CERTIFICATE ISSU-ANCE AND POSTPONED PAT-ENT PUBLICATION
On 31 October 2005, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) announced simplified procedures for issuance of patent certificates, and for appli-cations for postponed publication of patent grant.
Under the simplified procedures, an applicant for an invention patent, utility model patent, or new design patent must, within three months after receiving the patent allowance decision, file an application with the IPO for issuance of a patent certificate. If the applicant desires to seek a postponed patent publication, or plans to apply for reduction in patent annual fees, it should ap-ply for publication postponement or fee reduc-tion in the same application and pay the patent certificate fee and first year’s fee.