Quote number：

The Regulations on National Defense Patents are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of November 1, 2004.

country affaircourtyardtotalLi Wen Jiabao

Jiang Zemin, Chairman of the Central Military Commission

September 17th, 2004

National defense patent regulations

Chapter I General Principles

the first　In order to protect the patent right of inventions related to national defense, ensure state secrets, facilitate the popularization and application of inventions and creations, promote the development of national defense science and technology, and meet the needs of national defense modernization, these Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Patent Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC).

the second　National defense patent refers to an invention patent that involves national defense interests and has a potential role in national defense construction and needs to be kept confidential.

Article　The national defense patent agency (hereinafter referred to as the national defense patent agency) is responsible for accepting and examining national defense patent applications. If the national defense patent agency considers that it conforms to the provisions of these regulations, the patent administration department of the State Council shall grant the national defense patent right.

The competent department of science, technology and industry for national defense in the State Council and the General Armament Department of China People’s Liberation Army (hereinafter referred to as the General Armament Department) are responsible for the administration of national defense patents in local systems and military systems respectively.

Article 4　Inventions that involve national defense interests or have potential effects on national defense construction and are identified as top secret state secrets shall not apply for national defense patents.

The application for national defense patents and the confidentiality of national defense patents shall be managed in accordance with the Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Guarding State Secrets and the relevant provisions of the state before decryption.

Article 5　The term of protection of the national defense patent right is 20 years, counting from the date of application.

Article 6　During the protection period of a national defense patent, if it is necessary to change the classification, decrypt or extend the confidentiality period after the termination of the national defense patent, the national defense patent institution may make a decision to change the classification, decrypt or extend the confidentiality period; However, if it has been determined as a state secret before applying for a national defense patent, it shall obtain the consent of the organ, unit or its superior organ that originally determined the classification and duration of confidentiality.

A unit or individual who has been granted the national defense patent right (hereinafter referred to as the national defense patentee) may submit a written application to the national defense patent institution for changing the classification, decrypting or extending the confidentiality period; If it belongs to a state-owned enterprise, institution or military unit, it shall attach the opinions of the organ, unit or its superior organ that originally determined the classification and duration of confidentiality.

The national defense patent institution shall publish the decision to change the classification, decrypt or extend the confidentiality period in the Internal Bulletin of National Defense Patent published by the institution, and notify the national defense patentee, and at the same time, submit the decrypted national defense patent to the patent administration department of the State Council for conversion into ordinary patent. The patent administration department of the State Council shall promptly announce the decrypted national defense patents to the public.

Article 7　The right to apply for a national defense patent and the national defense patent right may be transferred to domestic China units and individuals upon approval.

The transfer of the right to apply for a national defense patent or a national defense patent right shall ensure that state secrets are not leaked and that national defense and army building are not affected, and a written application shall be submitted to the national defense patent institution, which shall, after preliminary examination, submit it to the competent department of science, technology and industry for national defense and the General Armament Department of the State Council for examination and approval in a timely manner in accordance with the division of responsibilities stipulated in the second paragraph of Article 3 of these regulations.

The competent department of science, technology and industry for national defense of the State Council and the General Armament Department shall make a decision of approval or disapproval within 30 days from the date when the national defense patent institution accepts the application; If a decision of disapproval is made, it shall notify the applicant in writing and explain the reasons.

Where the right to apply for a national defense patent or the national defense patent is transferred upon approval, the parties concerned shall conclude a written contract and register it with the national defense patent institution, which shall publish it in the Internal Bulletin of National Defense Patent. The right to apply for a national defense patent or the transfer of a national defense patent shall take effect as of the date of registration.

Article 8　It is forbidden to transfer the right to apply for a national defense patent and the national defense patent right to foreign units and individuals, as well as foreigners and foreign institutions at home.

Article 9　If it is necessary to entrust a patent agency to apply for a national defense patent and handle other national defense patent affairs, it shall entrust a patent agency designated by the national defense patent agency to handle it. Patent agencies and their staff have the obligation to keep confidential the state secrets they know in the process of handling national defense patent applications and other national defense patent affairs.

Chapter II Application, Examination and Authorization of National Defense Patent

Article 10　To apply for a national defense patent, a request, a specification, its abstract, a patent claim and other documents shall be submitted to the national defense patent institution.

The applicant for a national defense patent shall write an application document in accordance with the requirements and uniform format stipulated by the national defense patent institution, and deliver it in person or by confidential communication and other confidential means to the national defense patent institution, and shall not send it by ordinary mail.

The date when the national defense patent institution receives the national defense patent application documents is the application date; If the application documents are sent by confidential communication, the postmark date shall be the application date.

Article 11　National defense patent agencies regularly send people to the patent administration department of the State Council to check the common patent applications. If it is found that any of them involve national defense interests or have potential effects on national defense construction and need to be kept confidential, it will be converted into a national defense patent application with the consent of the patent administration department of the State Council, and the applicant will be notified.

After an ordinary patent application is converted into a national defense patent application, the national defense patent institution shall examine the national defense patent application in accordance with the relevant provisions of these Regulations.

Article 12　An invention granted a national defense patent right shall be novel, creative and practical.

Novelty means that no identical invention has been published in foreign publications, published in domestic publications, used in China or known to the public in other ways before the application date, and no identical invention has been applied by others and won the national defense patent right after the application date.

Creativity means that compared with the existing technology before the filing date, the invention has outstanding substantive characteristics and remarkable progress.

Practicality means that the invention can be manufactured or used and can produce positive effects.

Article 13　An invention applying for a national defense patent shall not lose its novelty in any of the following circumstances within 6 months before the date of application:

(1) It was exhibited for the first time in an internal exhibition held by the relevant authorities in the State Council and China People’s Liberation Army;

(2) It was first published at an internal academic meeting or technical meeting held by the relevant authorities in the State Council and China People’s Liberation Army;

(3) others disclose the contents of the national defense patent without the consent of the applicant.

In case of any of the circumstances listed in the preceding paragraph, the applicant for a national defense patent shall declare it at the time of application and provide relevant supporting documents within 2 months from the date of application.

Article 14　After reviewing the application for a national defense patent, the national defense patent institution shall notify the applicant for a national defense patent to state his opinions within a specified time limit or make amendments or corrections to his application for a national defense patent; If no reply is made within the time limit without justifiable reasons, the national defense patent application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

An applicant for a national defense patent may, within 6 months from the date of application or when replying to the notice of the first examination opinion, voluntarily propose amendments to his national defense patent application.

The applicant shall not modify the application documents for national defense patent beyond the scope recorded in the original specification and claims.

Article 15　After the applicant for a national defense patent states his opinions or makes amendments or corrections to the application for a national defense patent, the national defense patent institution considers that it still does not conform to the provisions of these Regulations, and shall reject it.

Article 16　The national defense patent institution shall set up a national defense patent reexamination board to be responsible for the reexamination and invalidation of national defense patents.

The national defense patent reexamination board is composed of technical experts and legal experts, and its chairman is concurrently the person in charge of the national defense patent institution.

Article 17　If the applicant for a national defense patent refuses to accept the decision of the national defense patent institution to reject the application, he may, within 3 months from the date of receiving the notice, request a review from the National Defense Patent Reexamination Board. After the national defense patent reexamination board reexamines and makes a decision, it shall notify the national defense patent applicant.

Article 18　If an application for a national defense patent is found to have no reason for rejection after examination, or it should not be rejected after reexamination, the patent administration department of the State Council shall make a decision to grant a national defense patent right, entrust a national defense patent institution to issue a national defense patent certificate, and announce the application date, authorization date and patent number of the national defense patent in the patent bulletin published by the patent administration department of the State Council. The national defense patent institution shall register the relevant matters of the national defense patent and publish them in the Internal Bulletin of National Defense Patent.

Article 19　Any unit or individual who believes that the grant of the national defense patent right does not conform to the provisions of these regulations may request the National Defense Patent Reexamination Board to declare the national defense patent right invalid.

Article 20　The national defense patent reexamination board shall, after examining the request for invalidation of the national defense patent right and making a decision, notify the requester and the national defense patentee. The decision to declare the national defense patent invalid shall be registered by the national defense patent institution and published in the Internal Bulletin of National Defense Patent, and the patent administration department of the State Council shall publish it in the patent bulletin.

Chapter III Implementation of National Defense Patents

Article 21　The national defense patent institution shall, within 3 months from the date of granting the national defense patent, send a copy of the relevant documents of the national defense patent to the relevant competent department of the State Council or the relevant competent department of the People’s Liberation Army of China. The department that receives the copy of the document shall put forward written opinions on the implementation of the national defense patent within 4 months and notify the national defense patent institution.

Article 22　The relevant competent departments of the State Council and China People’s Liberation Army may allow their designated units to implement national defense patents in their own systems or departments; Need to specify the implementation of the national defense patent outside the system or the department, it shall submit a written application to the national defense patent institution, which shall report to the competent department of science, technology and industry for national defense of the State Council and the General Armament Department for approval in accordance with the division of responsibilities stipulated in the second paragraph of Article 3 of these regulations.

National defense patent institutions shall register the designated implementation of national defense patents and publish them in the Internal Bulletin of National Defense Patents.

Article 23　The unit that exploits the national defense patent of others shall conclude a written implementation contract with the national defense patentee, pay the fees to the national defense patentee in accordance with the provisions of Article 25 of these regulations, and report to the national defense patent institution for the record. The implementing entity shall not allow any entity other than those stipulated in the contract to exploit the national defense patent.

Article 24　Where a national defense patentee permits a foreign unit or individual to exploit its national defense patent, it shall ensure that state secrets are not leaked and that national defense and army building are not affected, and submit a written application to the national defense patent institution, which shall conduct a preliminary examination and submit it to the competent department of science, technology and industry for national defense and the General Armament Department of the State Council for examination and approval in a timely manner in accordance with the division of responsibilities stipulated in the second paragraph of Article 3 of these regulations.

The competent department of science, technology and industry for national defense of the State Council and the General Armament Department shall make a decision of approval or disapproval within 30 days from the date when the national defense patent institution accepts the application; If a decision of disapproval is made, it shall notify the applicant in writing and explain the reasons.

Article 25　Those who exploit other people’s national defense patents shall pay the national defense patent royalties to the national defense patentee. The implementation of the national defense patent produced by using the national defense research funds directly invested by the state or other national defense funds for scientific research activities conforms to the purpose of using the funds for producing the national defense patent, and only the necessary national defense patent implementation fee may be paid; However, unless otherwise stipulated in the scientific research contract or the scientific research task book.

The fee for the implementation of national defense patents mentioned in the preceding paragraph refers to the expenses incurred in the implementation of national defense patents for providing technical information, training personnel and further developing technologies.

Article 26　The amount of the implementation fee or royalty for the designated implementation of the national defense patent shall be determined by the national defense patentee and the implementing unit through consultation; If no agreement can be reached, it shall be decided by the national defense patent agency.

Article 27　The state shall compensate the patentee of national defense. After issuing the national defense patent certificate, the national defense patent institution shall pay the national defense patent compensation fee to the national defense patentee, and the specific amount shall be determined by the national defense patent institution. If it is a service invention, the national defense patentee shall pay not less than 50% of the compensation fee to the inventor.

Chapter IV Administration and Protection of National Defense Patents

Article 28　The Internal Bulletin of National Defense Patent published by the national defense patent institution is a state secret document, and its scope of knowledge is determined by the national defense patent institution.

The internal bulletin of national defense patent published the following contents:

(1) Descriptions recorded in the national defense patent application;

(2) the patent claim for national defense;

(3) an abstract of the description of the invention;

(4) Grant of national defense patent right;

(5) Termination of the national defense patent right;

(6) invalidation of the national defense patent right;

(seven) the transfer of the right to apply for a national defense patent and the national defense patent right;

(8) Designation and implementation of national defense patents;

(nine) the record of the national defense patent licensing contract;

(ten) the change of classification and decryption of national defense patents;

(eleven) the extension of the period of confidentiality of national defense patents;

(12) the change of the name or address of the national defense patentee;

(thirteen) other related matters.

Article 29　After the national defense patent is granted, in any of the following circumstances, with the consent of the national defense patent agency, the national defense patent specification can be consulted:

(1) making a request for invalidation of the national defense patent right;

(two) the need to implement the national defense patent;

(three) the occurrence of national defense patent disputes;

(4) It is necessary for national defense scientific research.

Visitors are obliged to keep confidential the state secrets they know in the process of consulting.

Article 30　The relevant competent departments of the State Council, China People’s Liberation Army and the administrative departments of science, technology and industry for national defense of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall designate an institution to administer the national defense patent work and notify the national defense patent institution. The agency for the administration of national defense patent work is guided by the national defense patent agency in business.

Military units that undertake national defense scientific research and production tasks and participate in military orders, enterprises that perform investor duties in the State Council and institutions directly under the State Council shall designate corresponding institutions to manage the national defense patent work of their own units.

Article 31　At the request of the parties, the national defense patent institution may mediate the following national defense patent disputes:

(1) Disputes over the right to apply for a national defense patent and the ownership of the national defense patent;

(2) Disputes over the qualification of national defense patent inventors;

(3) Disputes over the reward and remuneration of the inventor of a service invention;

(4) Disputes over royalties and implementation fees for national defense patents.

Article 32　Except as otherwise provided in the Patent Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) and these Regulations, if a national defense patent is implemented without the permission of the national defense patentee, that is, the national defense patent is infringed and disputes are caused, the parties concerned shall settle them through consultation; Unwilling to negotiate or failing to do so, the national defense patentee or interested party may bring a suit in a people’s court or request the national defense patent institution to handle it.

Article 33　In violation of the provisions of this Ordinance, the disclosure of state secrets shall be handled in accordance with the Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Guarding State Secrets and the relevant provisions of the state.

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Article 34　To apply for a national defense patent and go through other formalities with the national defense patent institution, the fees shall be paid in accordance with the provisions.

Article 35　The relevant provisions of the Patent Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) are applicable to national defense patents, but if there are special provisions in this Ordinance, the provisions of this Ordinance shall prevail.

Article 36　These Regulations shall come into force as of November 1, 2004. On July 30, 1990, the Regulations on National Defense Patents approved by the State Council and the Central Military Commission (CMC) were abolished at the same time.