Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) issued “the Notice on Reducing Certain Administrative Fees” which came into effective from July 1, 2019. The following stipulations concern Patent:

The conditions of patent applicants and patentees who can apply for the reduction of patent fees, as stipulated in Article 3 of the “Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission on Issuing the Measures for the Reduced Payment of Patent Fees” (No. 78 [2016] of the Ministry of Finance), will be adjusted:

- for individuals, from those with an average monthly income of less than 3,500 yuan (42,000 yuan per year) to those with an average monthly income less than 5,000 yuan (60,000 yuan per year) in the previous year;

- for business, from those with the taxable income less than 300,000 yuan in the previous year to those with taxable income of less than 1 million yuan in the previous year.

(Source: China IP Magazine)