Patent and trademark review period to be shortened by end of 2022

China will further shorten the time for reviewing patent and trademark applications by the end of next year to improve processing efficiency and promote development of intellectual property rights, a senior official on IPR affairs said on Friday.

The time for reviewing high-valued patent applications - now 14 months - is expected to be shortened to 13.8 months by the end of 2022, while the time for trademarks will be processed within four months, according to Shen Changyu, commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration.

He released the plan at a High-level Forum on China IP Protection in Beijing on Friday, adding all work for the goals is being undertaken in an orderly manner.

"We want to continuously improve the efficiency of IPR reviews while ensuring quality, to strengthen protection on IPR from the very start," he said.

He said the administration is also planning to promote IPR-related anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition policies and regulations to prevent IPR from being abused.

The administration will also take the initiative to participate in IPR-related global governance and intensify efforts in studying IPR international rules, he said.

Additionally, the administration is planning to boost industrial development of geographical indications through legislation and draft IPR protection rules for some new businesses, such as big data, artificial intelligence and gene technology, Shen added.

On Friday, judges specializing in IPR disputes, officials from IPR government agencies, academics and internet enterprise representatives all shared their views on IPR protection and related economic growth at the forum, titled "Enhancing IP Protection Comprehensively, Striving to Build the New Development Paradigm".