The Procedures of the State Intellectual Property Office on Administrative Reconsideration (the Procedures) entered into force on 1 Sept. 2012.

There are 35 articles in the Procedures, which aims to stipulate the procedure of administrative reconsideration handled by the State Intellectual Property Office. The key points are as follows:

1.If a citizen, legal person or other organizations considers that the specific administrative act of the State Intellectual Property Office infringes on its legitimate rights and interests, it may apply to the State Intellectual Property Office for administrative reconsideration in accordance with the Procedures.

2.If relevant entities and individuals think that there are any of the following circumstances, they can apply for administrative reconsideration where:

(1) they are not satisfied with the specific administrative acts of patent application and patent right made by the State Intellectual Property Office, as well as the specific administrative acts related to the registration application for layout design of integrated circuits and the exclusive right of layout design;

(2) they are not satisfied with the procedural decision on patent reexamination or invalidation made by the Patent Re-examination Board;

(3) and other circumstances.

3.The State Intellectual Property Office responsible for legal work (hereinafter referred to as the “reconsideration organ”) is responsible for handling administrative reconsideration matters and making reconsideration decisions in the name of the State Intellectual Property Office.

4.Foreigners, foreign enterprises or other foreign organizations may apply for administrative reconsideration.