5 days after CNIPA released another year of amazing IP
statistics (note: this year CNIPA did not mention number of filings
but instead used number of patent grant and trademark
registration), CNIPA announced cancellation of government funding
for IP.
(1) By the end of June 2021, all levels of funding for patent
application stages should be completely cancelled, such as
financial aid, rewards, subsidies, etc.
(2) Current government funding should be limited to granted
invention patents (domestic and foreign) and should be provided
only after patent grant.
(3) No subsidies should be provided for annuities or attorney
fees
(4) Government funding for patent grant should be completely
cancelled before 2025.
It is likely that patent filings in 2021 may drop. The question is
how much. Weird activities observed among Chinese applicants may be
stopped, such as huge number of filings, filing in very
"unusual" jurisdictions for no business reasons, etc. It
also follows that Chinese firms relying on patent filings triggered
by government funding will have a hard time. Foreign associates
will also see a cut-off of work of this nature from Chinese
firms.
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