The State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China is pleased to announce that as of 08 Oct 2014, it will implement automatic electronic exchange of priority documents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).Priority documents have to be filed when applicants wish to claim an earlier application filing date in one patent office based on a prior filing in another.

This electronic exchange service will benefit patent applicants at SIPO and USPTO by reducing the administrative costs of ordering certified copies of priority documents, and will provide priority documents to the office of second filing in a more timely manner.

To qualify for this service, which is free of charge and not subject to any formalities on the part of the applicant, the U.S. patent application or the P.R.C.’s national patent or utility model application claiming priority from a first filing in the other office must have been filed on or after 08 Oct 2014.

(Source: SIPO)