Short-term patent application based on an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

An international application under the PCT can be filed either with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) or the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization. If you file an international application seeking a patent for an invention or a patent for a utility model and designating China, you can also seek short-term patent protection in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the Hong Kong SAR). After the international application has entered its national phase in China, you can file an application for a short-term patent in the Hong Kong SAR. The procedures and documents required are explained below.

Where your international application designating China seeks to protect a utility model, it should be noted that the same criteria for novelty and inventive step apply to both a standard and a short-term patent in the Hong Kong SAR. Short-term patents failing to satisfy the criteria may subsequently be challenged in the courts.

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Application process for short-term patent

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