Issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration on August 26, 2026
Effective: September 1, 2026
The revised Measures for the Administration of Patent Priority Examination (Order No. 85 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, hereinafter the “new Measures”) will formally take effect on September 1, 2026, and the Measures for the Administration of Patent Priority Examination issued in 2017 (hereinafter the “former Measures”) will be repealed at the same time. To ensure a smooth transition between the old and new rules and the orderly continuity of patent priority examination business, the relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:
1. Patent priority examination requests submitted on or after September 1, 2026 shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the new Measures; requests submitted before September 1, 2026 shall continue to be handled in accordance with the former Measures.
2. As of September 1, 2026, priority examination requests submitted by parties to reexamination or invalidation cases shall all be handled online through the “Patent Affairs Services” module of the “Patent Business Processing System” of the China National Intellectual Property Administration. For the specific handling procedures, see Annex 1. The former “Reexamination and Invalidation” module of the “Patent Business Processing System” will no longer accept priority examination business for reexamination or invalidation cases.
3. Patent priority examination requests submitted on or after September 1, 2026 shall use the newly revised Patent Priority Examination Request form, and the old version of the form shall cease to be used at the same time. For the form template, see Annex 2. This form revision does not involve adjustments to the client software or to the standards and specifications for electronic application data.
Annexes:
Annex 1 — Operation Manual for the Reexamination and Invalidation Priority Examination Business System
Annex 2 — Template of the Patent Priority Examination Request Form
China National Intellectual Property Administration
August 26, 2026
Disclaimer: This is an unofficial English translation of the original Chinese notice, provided for reference and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. In the event of any discrepancy between this translation and the original Chinese text, the original Chinese text shall prevail.
