China National Intellectual Property Administration, Announcement on Relevant Period Matters for Patents, Trademarks and Integrated Circuit Layout Designs Affected by the Epidemic

Issued: January 28, 2020

Main contents: Where a party misses a deadline specified in the Patent Law or its Implementing Rules or a deadline designated by the China National Intellectual Property Administration due to a reason relating to the epidemic, resulting in the extinguishing of its rights, the first paragraph of Article 6 of the Implementing Rules for the Patent Law shall apply. The party may petition for resumption of its rights within two months from the date on which the obstruction is removed and no later than two years from the date on which the period expires. Where a petition for a resumption of rights is made, there shall be no need to pay a rights resumption request fee, but the submission of a written request for resumption of rights stating the reason shall be required, and the same shall be accompanied by the relevant supporting documentation. Additionally, the relevant procedure that ought to have been carried out prior to the lapsing of the rights shall be carried out (Article 1).

Where a party misses a deadline specified in the Trademark Law or its Implementing Regulations or a deadline designated by the China National Intellectual Property Administration due to a reason relating to the epidemic, making it impossible for it to normally carry out a relevant trademark matter, the relevant period shall be suspended from the date on which the obstruction to exercising the rights arises and calculation thereof shall resume from the date on which the obstruction is eliminated, unless otherwise provided in law.  If the obstruction to exercising the rights has resulted in the lapse of its trademark rights, the concerned party may, within two months from the date on which the obstruction is eliminated, submit a written application to request resumption of the rights, stating the reason, together with the relevant supporting documentation (Article 2).