SIPO Issues Opinions on Further Enhancing Patent Application Quality
On 18 December 2013, the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) issued Several Opinions on Further Enhancing Patent Application Quality.
According to the Opinions, the phenomenal growth in volume of patent applications in China has given rise to some issues which needed to be addressed promptly. The most notable issues pertained to the quality of patent application drafting, innovation level of patent applications, and preference of quantity over quality in incentive policies and patent work appraisal in some regions.
Optimisation of supportive policies to enhance patent application quality is a focus of the Opinions. Among others, the Opinions put forward that in regional patent work appraisals, differences in level of development among various localities should be factored in to complement existing uniform quantitative indicator of patents per 10,000 population. Concurrently, the Opinions encourage incorporation of diversified indicators such as number of patent grants, number of PCT applications, and patent maintenance rate into the appraisal scheme.
Also mentioned in the Opinions were the roles of supervisory mechanism and regulation of patent agency industry in elevating quality of patent applications.
