Chinese IP Authorities now under ‘CNIPA’

Intellectual property authorities of China have recently gone through major changes. This blog post briefly introduces the merger of patent and trademark authorities into the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

In August 2018, the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) was renamed to China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). On 14 February 2019, the CNIPA issued a notice informing that, as of 1 April 2019, the following entities will also be merged with the CNIPA:

• China Trademark Office (CTMO)
• Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB)
• Trademark Examination Cooperation Center (TECC)
• Patent Review Board (PRB)

The names of the former entities are no longer used. The new structure is similar to the United States Patent and Trademark Office as well as the German Patent Office (Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt).

This means, in practice, that all trademark prosecution work will be carried out by CNIPA. In principle, the restructuring will not affect to the process and procedures in any way. The new agencies will handle all pending cases and all we have to do is get used to the new name. For more information, please see CNIPA’s official website in English at english.cnipa.gov.cn.

Talking about changes in China, it is also worth mentioning that the Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) is now called the Administration for Market Regulation (AMR). Respectively, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) is now the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).