Patent applications being reviewed more quickly

The time for reviewing high-value patent applications in China was shortened to 13.3 months by the end of last year, achieving the goal set by the central government ahead of schedule, an official for the country's intellectual property regulator said.

Wei Baozhi, head of the review management division of the patent office with the China National Intellectual Property Administration, announced the achievement at a news conference on Thursday.

By April last year, the time for reviewing high-valued patent applications was 14 months.

Wei said that the administration will also shorten the time for reviewing invention patent applications to continuously provide stronger support for building an innovative business environment.

Furthermore, individuals and departments have also been given easier access to public services involving trademarks, thanks to the administration's reforms.

"We've tried our best to put our services online to offer more convenience for applicants," said Li Chang, deputy head of the administration's trademark office.

Li added that services from 37 trademark-related businesses are accessible online.

"We've also provided services such as research, payment, consultation and delivery for applicants via our trademark website," he said. "On the online platform, application procedures have been simplified to reduce applicants' time and financial costs."

By the end of last month, the online application rate for trademark registration stood at 99.45 percent, and there were 279,000 total online applicants, he added.