On September 26, 2023 the Shenzhen Municipal Administration for Market Regulation released the Operation Rules for Special Funds in the Field of Intellectual Property Rights of the Shenzhen Municipal Administration for Market Regulation (Revised Draft for Comments) proposing to eliminate financial subsidies/rewards for grants of both Chinese and foreign patents by the end of 2023. However, other local and national market distorting incentives remain.
On January 27, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced in the “Notice of the CNIPA on Further Strictly Regulating Patent Application Behavior” the end of all patent subsidies by 2025. Subsidies for patent application filings and other stages of the patent prosecution process (e.g., requesting exam) will end by June 30, 2021. Only subsidies for granting of patents (including foreign patents) are allowed for now but local governments must cancel them by 2025. Shenzhen is proposing to end them by the end of 2023. Read more