Types of protection

Invention Patent: An Invention Patent is for new technical solutions or improvements to a product or a process with practical applicability for a term of 20 years from the date of filing.

Utility Model Patent: A Utility Model Patent is similar to an invention patent but its protection is limited to products with new shape or structural physical features. The maximum term of protection is 10 years from the filing date.

Design Patent: A Design Patent cannot be published overseas or in China and cannot have been publicly used in China. If a company's products are sold in China before filing for registration, this will destroy the ‘novelty’ of the patent. Design patents are valid for 10 years.

Convention and treaty membership

China became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1980 and is a signatory of numerous treaties and conventions including, but not limited to the following:

• Paris Convention
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
• Budapest Treaty
• Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
• Strasbourg Agreement
• Locarno Agreement of 1968, Establishing An International Classification for Industrial Designs¹