CNIPA to Resume Accepting Requests to Participate in PCT Collaborative Search & Examination (CS&E) Pilot

Under the PCT Collaborative Search and Examination (CS&E) pilot project starting 1 July 2018, the IP5 Offices, namely, European Patent Office (EPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), have been providing upon the request of patent applicants in the international phase of a PCT application CS&E work products that apart from the search results and opinions of the main International Searching Authority (ISA), also take into account the view of peer offices.

 

According to the framework of the pilot, each office as the main ISA will process 100 international applications over the pilot period of two years, and preferably about 50 for each of the year. Initially, only international applications filed in English are accepted into the pilot, but applications filed in a language other than English may be accepted after 31 December 2018.

 

The pilot proved to be very well-received. As of November 2018, 40 applications have been accepted by CNIPA, which, for the sake of optimising the pilot, decided to suspend receiving further requests until it is ready to launch the CS&E for international applications in Chinese.

 

Recently, CNIPA has completed the preparation work and announced that it will start receiving the CS&E requests for international applications in Chinese from 1 March to 30 June 2019, during which no requests for international applications in English will be accepted. The applications to be received during that period will be limited to 10 in total, allowing no more than 2 applications per applicant. Moreover, to facilitate review by the peer ISAs, an English translation of the application in Chinese is requested to be submitted by the applicant.

 

From 1 July 2019 until 30 June 2020, or upon reaching the limit of applications set for the pilot, whichever is earlier, CS&E requests for international applications in English as well as in Chinese will be received by CNIPA.