In order to thoroughly implement the central government’s strategic plan on promoting the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and to help Hong Kong Special Administrative Region residents to protect intellectual property rights in mainland China more conveniently and effectively, the China National Intellectual Property Administration will, in the form of a pilot project, make convenient arrangements for prioritized examination of invention patents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region applicants in mainland China.

According to the pilot project, as of January 1, 2023, permanent residents in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and companies established in accordance with the Companies Ordinance of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and other legal entities or organizations in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region can submit relevant application documents through the Guangzhou Agency and Shenzhen Agency of the Patent Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, so that any eligible patent application for invention can obtain prioritized examination in mainland China.

The patent application for invention applicable to the pilot project shall be a patent application for invention in the substantive examination phase of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region applicants in mainland China, which pertains to a technical field of the Measures for the Administration of the Prioritized Examination of Patents (No. 76 Order of CNIPA), with its relevant application classification number falling within the scope of the Relationship Table for Reference of Strategic Emerging Industry Classification and International Patent Classification (2021).

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region applicants can submit application documents for prioritized examination of patents to the service window of the Guangzhou Agency or Shenzhen Agency of the Patent Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration in person or by mail but shall not submit the request for prioritized examination of the same patent application to the two agencies repeatedly. For the specific application procedure, please refer to the website of Guangzhou Agency or Shenzhen Agency and application guidelines for prioritized examination of invention patents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region applicants in mainland China.

Material for reference: application guidelines for prioritized examination of invention patents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region applicants in mainland China

(Source: website of CNIPA)