China Lowers & Removes Certain IP Official Fees
As announced recently by National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in conjunction with Ministry of Finance (MOF), China has decided to lower, remove, and suspend a number of administrative fees.
Effective from 15 October 2015, 12 items of administrative fees are to be lowered, among which the following are IP-related:
- The fee for filing an application for registration of a trademark is lowered to RMB600 from RMB800 per class (for a maximum of 10 designated items of goods or services); and for designation of over 10 items of goods or services per class, the filing fee for each additional item is revised to RMB60 from RMB80;
- The fee for filing an application for registration of computer software copyright is lowered to RMB200 from RMB250 per computer program per file type; and the fee for issuance of a certificate of registration for computer software copyright is lowered to RMB10 from RMB50;
- While the annual fee for protection of a new plant variety remains unchanged at RMB1,000 per year for the first six years, the annual fee thereafter within the protection period is lowered to RMB1,200 from RMB1,500.
Moreover, effective from 1 November 2015, 37 items of administrative fees are to be removed or suspended. Among them, the IP-related fees changes involve the removal of the fee for extension request in application for computer software copyright registration, and suspension of the fee for recordation of IP rights with the General Administration of Customs of China.
