Guangzhou Municipality, Administration of Patents Regulations

Issued: October 9 2001
Effective: November 1 2001
Applicability: The Regulations apply to the administration of patents and related activities in Guangzhou (Article 2).

Main contents: According to the Regulations, research and development projects shall be fully documented so that in the event of any patent dispute such documents can be provided for settlement of the dispute (Article 5). A research and development project contract between a government department and a project contractor shall contain express provisions for patent application, patent protection and patent exploitation (Article 10). In the event of failure to do so, the responsible person of the government department shall be held liable (Article 23). In relation to service inventions and creations, where an individual has an objection to the patent application of his/her employer, he/she may file his/her objection with the municipal patent administration on a confidential basis (Article 7). Where a service invention or creation is achieved by anyone during internship at a work unit that is not his/her employer, the right to apply for patent shall belong to the hosting work unit unless otherwise agreed between the dispatching work unit and the hosting work unit (Article 8). Where an employee who is completing or has completed a service invention or creation terminates his/her employment, he/she must return all relevant information to his/her employer, must not divulge such information and must not apply for patent for the service invention or creation (Article 9). The municipal patent administration shall investigate and punish any patent passing off activities in Guangzhou and, if requested by patentees or patent licensees, may also investigate and punish repeated or multi-party patent infringement (Articles 18 and 19).
Related legislation: PRC, Patent Law (2nd Revision), Aug 25 2000, CLP 2000, No.8 p7 & CLP 1992 No.9 p42 and Guangdong Province, Protection of Patents Regulations