1. Checking and Formulating Regulations

the SIPO checked all regulations promulgated since 1985 in the first half of 2002, rescinded some regulations and directing documents contradictory to current laws or losing power already, and safeguarded the seriousness and authority of the regulations of the SIPO. One directive, eighteen announcements and seven directing documents were rescinded at this time. On the basis of checking regulations, the current effective regulations and directing documents were compiled and published as the Compilation of Patent Laws and Regulations.

Formulating The Rules on Formulation Procedures of Regulations of the SIPO. According to the Legislation of the People's Republic of China and related regulations of the State Council, and taking the current working situation of the SIPO into consideration, The Rules on Formulation Procedures of Regulations of the SIPO was drafted, which provided specific requirements on procedures of planning, drafting, reviewing, promulgating, amending and annulling certain regulations of the SIPO.

Promulgating the Review and Approval Methods on Establishing Patent Agencies (Provisional). The Review and Approval Methods on Establishing Patent Agencies (Provisional) was formulated and promulgated, making specific regulations on the conditions regarding establishment, review and approval procedures for patent agencies.

Promulgating the Section on Administrative Reconsideration of the SIPO. In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, the Section on Administrative Reconsideration of the SIPO was formulated, which kept in line with the requirements of the Administrative Reconsideration Law of the People's Republic of China and the practice of the SIPO in recent years.

Formulating the Punishment Rules on Patent Agencies (Provisional). For the purposes of improving the supervision and regulation of the practice of patent agencies and agents and for safeguarding the normal order of patent agent trades, the SIPO formulated the Punishment Rules on Patent Agencies (Provisional) according to the Patent Law and the Rules on Patent Agent, which regulated the punishment methods, actions deserving punishment and punishment procedures related to patent agencies and agents.

2. Improving Patent Administrative Enforcement Regulations, Documents and Mechanism

The Annual National Patent Administrative Enforcement Working Meeting was held in Urumqi, Xinjiang, in mid-August. The specific legal problems encountered during enforcement in the years since the implementation of the new patent law were reviewed, several discussions were carried out on drafts of the Opinions on Several Issues Related to Patent Enforcement and the Measures on Marking Patent Signs and Numbers, Experiences accumulated during enforcement by IP administrations of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the leadership of the Central Government were introduced, and the enforcement supervision work was arranged during the meeting. The meeting in a way harmonized and unified the understandings of the local IP administrations and pushed forward the enforcement work.

Since the implementation of the newly revised patent law, local patent administrations have met some new problems during administrative enforcement, including whether patent administration must investigate and get evidences during the handling of infringement disputes, whether evidences in administrative litigation and the use of technology in the public domain as argument reasons for non-infringement must be grounded, and whether the continued marking of patent numbers after the suspension of patent rights constituted passing-off of patents. Regarding these problems, the SIPO drafted the Opinions on Several Issues Related to Patent Enforcement for further comments.

According to the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law, the SIPO drafted the Measures on Marking Patent Signs and Numbers for further comments, which provided specific regulations on how to mark.

According to the needs of the new enforcement situation after China's accession to the WTO, the SIPO organized the Joint Enforcement Meeting in Hangzhou in early November, in which representatives from IP administrations of thirteen provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the leadership of the Central Government participated. The participants thought it was necessary to establish the joint patent administrative enforcement mechanism over regions and departments headed and organized by the SIPO and proposed specific suggestions on its measures and procedures. The establishment of the joint enforcement mechanism would be conducive to strengthening the coordination during enforcement among local IP administrations and improving the efficiency of administrative enforcement.

The System of Patent Administrative Enforcement Staff with Credentials was adopted in 1995 in China. To further improve the system and the administrative quality and level of enforcement staff, the SIPO issued and circulated the Notice on Administration Measures on Patent Administrative Enforcement Credentials. The Notice required local patent administrative enforcement staff to receive training periodically and qualify to obtain enforcement credentials issued by the SIPO, and made specific requirements on the check, change and cancellation of enforcement credentials.

3. Administration on Patent Agent

With respect to the reform of patent agencies, this work was completed within the year, among which 249 patent agencies were reformed, seventy-two requested to be cancelled, ninety-three were dismissed, and thirty-four were related to national defense and secrets were renamed.

With respect to the biennial national patent agent qualification examination, the test was held simultaneously in Beijing, Changchun, Jinan, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Xi'an from October 26 to 27. A total of 4450 person applied for the examination and about 3300 participated, both of which were greater than in years past. To help candidates make preparations, the SIPO published the Examination Guide and organized nine training courses in the examination cities, in which more than 3500 candidates participated. The review, check and scores announcement of the examination were accomplished at the end of the year.

With respect to formulating the Implementing Plan of the Code Standard of Patent Agents, in order to promote the standardization of patent agents and applications, and to assure the smooth implementation of the Code Standard of Patent Agents on January 1, 2003, the Implementing Plan of the Code Standard of Patent Agents was formulated. The Plan required to accomplish the change of the Patent Agent Practice Certificates within six months and the Patent Agent Qualification Certificates within three years.

In order to meet the needs of China's accession to the WTO, thirty-seven patent agencies or law firms were newly approved to the status of foreign patent business at the end of 2002.

4. Administrative Reconsideration

In 2002, the SIPO received a total of forty-three requests for administrative reconsideration, among which nineteen were related to patent applications deemed to have been withdrawn, fourteen related to patent terminations, four related to priority rights deemed not to have been claimed, 1 related to patent right deemed to have been given up, five related to patents that could not be restored, four related to the modification of the bibliographies, one related to the determination of a patent filing date, and two related disapproval on the deduction and late payment of fees. Among the forty-three requests for administrative reconsideration, the SIPO modified sixteen requests' original administrative decisions.

In 2002, fourteen cases involving administrative action were brought against the SIPO before the court, among which four related to administrative compensation, three related to the restoration of patent application rights and patent rights, two related to alleged act of administrative nonfeasance, two related to the modification of patentees, one related to the refusal of a request for administrative reconsideration, one related to the confirmation of treating as secret a patent application, and one related to the confirmation of an illegal patent grant. Among the fourteen administrative action, the SIPO won nine in the first instance and lost two, while two were withdrawn by the plaintiffs, and one was still not resolved by the end of 2002.