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The State Intellectual Property Office announced on December 15, 1999 that any applicant of a short-term patent application or a design application first filed with Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department, may enjoy a right of priority when filing a counterpart application with State Intellectual Property Office in China.
According to the new regulation, within twelve months from the date on which any applicant first filed in Hong Kong a short-term patent application, or within six months from the date on which any applicant first filed in Hong Kong a design application, the applicant may file in China an application for the same subject matter, enjoying a right of priority of the earlier application in Hong Kong.
The applicant who claims the priority of a short-term patent application or a design application, shall make a written declaration when the application is filed, and submit, within three months, a certified copy of the short-term patent application or design application document which was first filed. It is possible for the applicant to claim one or more than one priorities for an application. If the applicant fails to make the written declaration or to meet the time limit for submitting the priority document, the claim to the right of priority shall be deemed not to have been made.
The applicant shall, in his written declaration, indicate the date of filing and the filing number of the application first filed with Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department. If the written declaration does not indicate the date of filing of the earlier application or Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department as receiving office, the declaration shall be deemed not to have been made.
The present regulation is applicable to all short-term patent applications or design applications first filed with Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department on or after 1st December 1999.
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