Notice on Comprehensively Improving the Quality of Patent Priority Examination Business

2025-05-12
Notice on Comprehensively Improving the Quality of Patent Priority Examination Business
(April 2025)
In order to further leverage the role of the patent priority examination fast track in cultivating and strengthening the new quality productivity of Hubei's advantageous industries, comprehensively improve the quality of patent priority examination business, and strengthen the cultivation of high-value patents from the source, in accordance with the relevant requirements of the National Intellectual Property Office and the Provincial Intellectual Property Office, and combined with the actual situation of our province, we hereby notify the following matters related to patent priority examination business:
1. Recommendation principle
Quality first, key guarantee
2、 Recommended subject
According to the "Measures for the Administration of Patent Priority Examination" and relevant work guidelines of the State Intellectual Property Office, it is recommended that the invention patents of four types of industrial legal entities registered in Hubei Province, including strategic emerging industries, green technologies, key digital technologies, and "new three types", be given priority examination.
3、 Recommended scope and application materials
1. It involves national key development industries such as energy conservation and environmental protection, new generation information technology, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials, new energy vehicles, and intelligent manufacturing. The corresponding relationship between classification numbers conforms to the "Reference Table for Strategic Emerging Industries Classification and International Patent Classification (2021) (Trial)", "Green Technology Patent Classification System", "Key Digital Technology Patent Classification System (2023)", and "New Three Sample" related technology patent classification system (2024).
2. Both the primary and secondary classification numbers of the patent application for priority examination can be referred to, and priority should be given to recommending cases where the primary classification number matches. When the classification number falls into the reference relationship table, but the keywords do not match the patented technology, it is considered to have no corresponding relationship. Priority review cases with this reason for rollback, if there is a correlation between technology and keywords, can be further explained in the supporting documents and resubmitted; If there is no association, it will be considered as not meeting the recommended scope of priority review and cannot be resubmitted.
3. Patent priority examination applications involving key encouraged industries by provincial and district level municipal governments must provide specific policy documents or special policy documents published on the official websites of the provincial and municipal governments as evidence, and explain their relevance. If only industry categories are mentioned in the "planning" and "outline" documents without corresponding technical subdivision explanations, they are not recommended for reference.
4. Patents involving the Internet, big data, cloud computing, and other fields with fast technology or product updates must provide proof of their fast update speed.
5. Other necessary materials refer to the Notice on Further Standardizing Patent Priority Examination Application Materials.
4、 Recommended quantity
1. Each applicant shall recommend no more than 2 items per month, and the total number of priority examination recommendations for the whole year shall refer to their previous year's invention patent authorization volume, the authorization rate of priority examination patents already processed in the previous two years, and the maintenance rate after authorization. The recommended number of applicants without patent authorization in the previous year generally does not exceed 2 for the whole year.
2. Enterprises, universities, and research institutes with more than 150 invention patent authorizations in the previous year can increase their monthly recommended number of excellent reviews appropriately. The applicant needs to send a letter to the Wuhan agency, designate a dedicated person to strictly control the quality, and coordinate the management of the number of priority review cases throughout the year.
3. If the innovation subject has special needs, a recommendation letter shall be issued by the local intellectual property management department, explaining the basic information of the enterprise, the authorized use of patents, and the necessity of priority examination. The letter shall include the contact information of the recommending department, the contact information of the enterprise, the number of recommended items, and a detailed list of recommended patents. Generally, no more than 10 items are recommended each time, and no more than 2 times a year. The recommending unit should track and manage the quality of the recommended patents.
4. For the first inventor of the patent who is a key talent such as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering or a holder of the "Chu Cai Card", an increase in quota will be given. Among them, the number of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the holder of the "Chu Cai Card" A card shall not exceed 10 per year, and the number of holders of the "Chu Cai Card" B card shall not exceed 5 per year.
5. Priority review requests that have been prepared for implementation or have already begun implementation should not exceed 2 requests per applicant throughout the year.
6. Select and recommend excellent patented technologies identified in the key and precise services provided by the service team in the "Know Good to Do" service cluster area.
5、 Not recommended situations
1. If there are patents applied for on the same day, utility model authorization is considered to have enjoyed the convenience of rapid patent technology authorization, and invention patents are not recommended.
2. The business system currently does not support the recognition of electronic seals. Materials need to be printed on paper, stamped with a fresh seal, scanned and uploaded. If submitting an electronic seal, it will be returned for correction once, and those that fail the correction will not be recommended. Applicants and agencies who repeatedly submit false materials such as P-images and seals will have their priority review and recommendation suspended for one year.
3. For patent priority examination applications that are not intended for conversion, application, or protection of innovation, once discovered, the priority examination recommendation of the applicant and agency shall be suspended for one year.
4. Applicants and agencies whose proportion of abnormal patent applications (abnormal patent application volume compared to the same period's patent application volume) exceeds the provincial average level will have their priority examination recommendations suspended for one year.
6、 Frequently Asked Questions
1. The request letter is not a necessary material in the priority examination of electronic patent applications. If it is uploaded, the authenticity and correctness of the content and signature in the request letter should be ensured, and it should be consistent with the system filling.
2. The publication date of existing technical documents should be earlier than the application date of the priority examination patent.
If there are multiple applicants for a patent, the supporting documents must be stamped with the official seal of all applicants.
When a third-party agency submits a request for priority examination, the power of attorney must be jointly stamped and effective by all the entrusting parties (all applicants if multiple applicants are required) and the entrusted party (third-party agency). The entrusted party is an agency and cannot be an individual.
If the applicant has "the same unit, multiple brands", they need to submit signatures corresponding to each name.
This notice shall come into effect from the date of issuance. Applications that have already been submitted and do not meet the relevant requirements of this notice shall be cleared and returned in accordance with this notice.
Business consultation hotline: 027-87520102
Wuhan Office of the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office
April 16, 2025
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