LAWS AND REGULATIONS

(Promulgated by Order No. 7 of the State Administration for Market Regulation on April 23, 2019)

Chapter I General provisions

Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations on Patent Agency for the purpose of standardizing the qualification examination for patent agents. 

Article 2 The patent agent Qualification examination (hereinafter referred to as the examination) is a national unified patent agent practice admission qualification examination. 

Article 3 The State Intellectual Property Office shall be responsible for organizing examinations, formulating examination policies and examination administration systems, and guiding the examination affairs of the administrative departments for patent affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Responsible for examination proposition, patent agent qualification certificate issuance, organization of examination tour, examination security and confidentiality, emergency handling of major emergencies across the country, examination personnel and examination staff violations and discipline treatment. 

The State Intellectual Property Office established an examination committee for patent agents. The examination committee shall examine and approve the examination outline and determine the passing score of the examination. Its members shall be composed of the relevant personnel of the State Intellectual Property Office, the relevant departments under The State Council, the patent agency trade organizations and representatives of patent agents. The director shall be the Director of the State Intellectual Property Office. The office of the examination Committee is responsible for the specific work of the examination. 

Article 4 The administrative departments for patent affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for the examination work within their respective administrative areas and implement the examination policies and examination management systems formulated by the State Intellectual Property Office. The administrative departments for patent affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall set up leading groups for examination work, which shall be responsible for the organization of examination affairs, examination security and confidentiality, emergency handling and reporting of emergencies, and handling of violations and discipline violations of exam-takers and examination staff within their respective administrative areas. 

Article 5 The examination shall be held once a year, and unified propositions shall be implemented throughout the country, and the scope of propositions shall be subject to the examination outline. The examination covers the following subjects: 

(1) Patent legal knowledge; 

(2) Relevant legal knowledge; 

(3) Patent agency practice. 

Article 6 The examination shall be a closed-book examination and computerized examination shall be adopted. 

Article 7 The examination paper shall be graded uniformly throughout the country. The organization and coordination of marking shall be undertaken by the Office of the Examination Committee. 

Article 8 The applicant who has passed all subject examinations within three years shall be issued the patent agent qualification certificate by the State Intellectual Property Office after examination and verification. 

Article 9 The State Intellectual Property Office and the administrative departments for patent affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall keep the examination confidential. The confidentiality work shall adhere to the principles of unified leadership, hierarchical management, step-by-step responsibility, active prevention and highlighting key points. 

Article 10 The State Intellectual Property Office and the administrative departments for patent affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall promptly prevent and effectively respond to emergencies during the examination. The emergency handling of emergencies shall follow the principles of unified command, hierarchical responsibility, effective control and handling according to law, so as to give priority to prevention and make unremitting preparations.

Article 11 When the State Intellectual Property Office and the administrative departments for patent affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government deal with the violations and violations of discipline of examinees and examiners in accordance with these Measures, the facts shall be clear, the evidence is conclusive, the procedures are standardized and the applicable provisions are accurate.

Article 12 The State Intellectual Property Office may, according to the needs of the development of the patent agency industry, implement preferential policies for examinations in qualified areas. Candidates who meet the preferential policies of the examination shall be issued by the State Intellectual Property Office a patent agent qualification certificate that allows them to practice in the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.

Chapter II Examination organization

Article 13 The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) releases a public notice on matters related to the examination to the public four months before the examination is held every year, announcing the relevant arrangements such as the city of the examination center, the registration procedure, the examination time and the granting of qualifications.

Article 14 Where the administrative departments for patent affairs of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government meet the prescribed conditions, they may apply to the State Intellectual Property Office for the establishment of examination centers within their respective administrative areas. 

Article 15 The State Intellectual Property Office may entrust computerized examination service providers (hereinafter referred to as examination service providers) to perform part of the examination work. 

The examination service provider shall accept the supervision and guidance of the State Intellectual Property Office and the administrative department for patent affairs of the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government that has examination centers within its administrative region (hereinafter referred to as examination centers offices). 

Article 16 The State Intellectual Property Office shall assign examination inspectors to examination site offices. Inspectors supervise and coordinate the examination affairs of test site bureaus and test service providers, and report any problems to the State Intellectual Property Office in a timely manner. 

After the end of the examination of all subjects, the inspectors shall bring back the copies of the examination room records, violation reports and related materials recovered by the examination site bureau and submit them to the office of the examination committee. 

Article 17 The examination site Bureau shall supervise and guide the examination service party to implement the examination station and examination room in the region, organize the inspection of the examination station and examination room in the region, supervise and guide the examination service party to undertake the examination work, and shall hold an explanation of the invigilation duties before the examination. 

The examination site bureau shall appoint the person in charge of the examination station. 

Article 18 The examination center Bureau shall supervise and guide the examination service party to select the examination center in accordance with the principle of centralization and convenience. The following requirements shall be met: 

(1) Complete fire fighting facilities, smooth evacuation channels, quiet, well-ventilated, and sufficient light; 

(2) Hardware, software and network configurations comply with regulations; 

(3) There are areas or facilities for temporarily storing items carried by candidates. 

Article 19 The examination center Bureau shall set up an examination affairs office in each examination station as a place to deal with exam-related affairs, and arrange and equip security and medical personnel as needed to assist in maintaining examination order and provide medical assistance services. 

Article 20 The examination personnel shall have a high political quality, abide by the examination discipline, be familiar with the examination business, and work conscientiously and responsibly. If a spouse or immediate family member participates in the examination in that year, he or she shall take the initiative to withdraw.

Chapter III Examination registration

Article 21 Chinese citizens who meet the following conditions may register for the examination: 

(1) Having full capacity for civil conduct; 

(2) Obtain a college degree or above in science or engineering recognized by the state, and obtain a graduation certificate or degree certificate. 

Chinese citizens and residents of Taiwan who are permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region may register for the examination. 

Article 22 Chinese citizens who have been engaged in patent examination or other work for at least seven years may apply for exemption from the examination of patent agency practice subjects. 

Article 23 Under any of the following circumstances, no one shall register for the examination: 

(1) Having received criminal punishment for an intentional crime, and less than three years have elapsed since the date of completion of the punishment; 

(2) The penalty of revocation of the patent agent qualification certificate has not been three years since the date of the penalty decision. 

Article 24 Persons who register for the examination shall choose one of the suitable test center cities and register within the prescribed time. Applicants shall fill in and upload the following materials, and pay the relevant fees: 

(1) Application form, patent agent qualification pre-application form and photos; 

(2) Scanned copies of valid identity documents; 

(3) Scanned copies of academic or degree certificates. Applicants with academic and degree certificates from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan Region or overseas institutions of higher learning must upload the scanned copy of the academic and degree certificate of the Service Center of the Ministry of Education; 

(4) A scanned copy of the patent agent qualification application commitment. 

When applying for exemption from the patent agency practice examination, the personnel shall also fill in and upload the application for exemption, and prove that they are engaged in patent examination and other work materials. 

Article 25 The Examination Commission Office of the State Intellectual Property Office shall make a unified admission ticket and distribute it to the applicants who meet the registration conditions.

Chapter IV Examination room rules

Article 26 The examinee shall, with his/her admission ticket and the original valid ID card consistent with the registration information, enter the examination room at the designated time before the beginning of each subject examination, and take the examination at the designated place after receiving the identification. 

Article 27 No examinee shall bring the following articles into the examination room: 

(1) Any books, periodicals, notes and paper containing text;

(2) Any electronic product with the functions of communication, storage, recording and playback. 

If the examinees carry the articles mentioned in the preceding paragraph or other articles unrelated to the examination, they shall give them to the invigilator for safekeeping before the examination begins. 

Article 28 During the examination, the exam-takers shall strictly observe the test room disciplines, keep the test room quiet, shall not talk to each other, stand or move around at will, shall not look at or peep at the answers of others, shall not pass on any information, shall not make noise, smoke, eat or drink in the test room, or have any other behavior that affects the order of the test room. 

Article 29 No examinees are allowed to enter the examination room 30 minutes after the test begins. The examinees are not allowed to leave until 60 minutes after the test begins. 

Article 30 After taking a seat, the examinees shall not leave their seats and the examination room without authorization. Before the end of the examination, if the examinees need to leave the examination room temporarily under special circumstances, they shall be accompanied by the invigilator and shall accept identification again when they return to the examination room. 

If the examinees are unable to continue the examination due to sudden illness, they shall stop the examination immediately and leave the examination room. 

Article 31 In the course of the examination, if the examination machine fails, the network fails, or the power supply fails, and so on, the examinee cannot take the examination normally, the examinee shall follow the arrangement of the invigilator. 

Due to the objective reasons mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the examinee may request the invigilator to make up time on the spot, and the invigilator shall deal with it in accordance with the provisions of Article 39 of these measures. 

Article 32 At the end of the exam, the examinee shall follow the instructions of the invigilator, immediately stop the exam, put the draft paper on the table, waiting for the invigilator to count and recover. Only after the invigilator announces his departure can the examinee leave the examination room. After leaving the test room, candidates are not allowed to linger or make noise in the vicinity of the test room. 

Article 33 Test takers are not allowed to copy, copy, disseminate and spread the contents of test questions, and are not allowed to take draft paper out of the examination room.

Chapter V Invigilation rules

Article 34 Invigilators shall be selected and assigned by examination service parties entrusted by the State Intellectual Property Office and reported to the State Intellectual Property Office and examination site offices for the record. 

Article 35 Invigilators entering the examination room shall wear a uniformly made and issued invigilator sign. 

Article 36 Before the examination begins, the invigilator shall complete the following work: 

(1) 90 minutes before the test starts, enter the test room and check whether the test management machine, test server and test machine are working properly; 

(2) 60 minutes before the test starts, go to the test office to get the test related forms and scratch paper; 

(3) 40 minutes before the test starts, organize the test takers to enter the test room, check the admission ticket and ID card, check the identity of the test takers, and ask the test takers to sign and take photos in the test room record form. Candidates who do not bring the admission ticket and ID card at the same time shall not be allowed to enter the examination room; 

(4) 10 minutes before the beginning of the test, read or broadcast the test rules to the test-takers;

5 minutes before the test starts, remind the examinees to log in to the test interface, check the relevant information of the test, and issue draft paper to the examinees to prepare for the test; 

When the test starts, click the "Start Test" button on the test management machine on time. 

Article 37 During the examination, the invigilator shall check whether the photo on the examination ticket and ID card of the examinee is consistent with that of himself. 

If it is found that the examinee himself is inconsistent with the photo on the certificate, the invigilator shall check the information in the registration database on the examination room management machine. If the verification is inconsistent, the invigilator shall report to the person in charge of the examination station, who shall decide whether the examinee can continue to participate in the examination and deal with it in a timely manner. 

38th during the examination of the test machine failure, network failure or power supply failure and other abnormal circumstances, resulting in test takers can not normal examination, invigilator should maintain the order of the test, appease the test personnel, immediately ask technical support personnel to troubleshoot. Important information shall be promptly reported to the person in charge of the station. The person in charge of the station shall handle it accordingly, and if necessary, shall report it to the State Intellectual Property Office step by step, and handle it accordingly according to the instructions of the State Intellectual Property Office. 

39th due to the examination machine failure and other objective reasons caused by individual test-takers to answer the time loss, should be made up time to the test-takers, the time should be equal to the actual loss of time. If the extra time does not exceed 10 minutes, the extra time shall be granted with the approval of the invigilator; If the extra time is more than 10 minutes but less than 30 minutes, it shall be reported to and approved by the person in charge of the station. If the extra time exceeds 30 minutes, it shall be reported to the State Intellectual Property Office step by step and shall be dealt with accordingly according to the instructions of the State Intellectual Property Office. 

Article 40 Invigilators shall scrupulously abide by their duties and may not smoke, read books or newspapers, chat, make telephone calls or engage in any other acts unrelated to the requirements for invigilation in the examination room. Invigilators shall not give any explanation or hint to the contents of the test. If the examinees question the correctness of the test questions, the invigilators shall report it in time and handle it accordingly according to the instructions of the State Intellectual Property Office. 

Article 41 Where violations of discipline and regulations are found, the invigilator shall promptly report to the person in charge of the examination station and do the following work: 

(1) Require the examinee to stop answering questions immediately; 

(2) Collect illegal articles, fill in the temporary seizure and return form of illegal articles; 

(3) Identify the violations and discipline violations of the examinees, and record their violations and submission time in the violation report, signed by two invigilators for confirmation; 

(4) Inform the examinees of the recorded content and ask them to sign for confirmation. If the examinee refuses to sign, the invigilator shall indicate the violation in the report form;

(5) Record the examinee's name, admission ticket number, violation and discipline in the test room record form; 

(6) Timely report to the person in charge of the test station the violation of discipline, and the examination related forms and illegal items and other evidence materials to the person in charge of the test station. If it is confirmed that the examinee has plagiarized and cheated, the invigilator shall submit relevant certification materials. 

Article 42 After the end of the examination, the invigilator shall count and recover the draft paper, check whether all the examination machines have been handed in successfully, and upload the test data in this examination room according to the requirements after confirming the success. 

Article 43 During the examination, the invigilator shall truthfully fill in the examination related forms. After the examinee exits the examination room, the invigilator shall submit the examination room record form, violation report form, violation item withholding and return form, work procedure record form and draft paper to the person in charge of the examination station for acceptance. 

Article 44 After the examination of each subject, the invigilator shall clean up and close the examination room, and the key of the examination room shall be managed by the special person designated by the examination station.

Chapter VI Results announcement and qualification awarding

Article 45 The examination scores and passing scores shall be published by the office of the examination Committee. No one is allowed to disclose the scores before they are released. 

Article 46 If the examinee considers that his/her examination results are obviously abnormal, he/she may, within 15 days from the date of publication of the examination results, submit a written application for review to the office of the examination committee. Test score review is limited to rechecking whether the sum of the scores on each question is incorrect. Examinees are not allowed to consult their own papers. 

Article 47 The office of the examination committee shall designate two or more staff members to complete the review work together. The result of the review shall be notified in writing by the office of the Examination Committee to the examinee who has made the request for review. 

If it is found that there are mistakes in the score that need to be corrected, the score can be corrected only after the examination and approval of the person in charge of the office of the examination committee and the approval of the director of the examination committee. 

Article 48 The State Intellectual Property Office shall, within one month after the release of the passing score line for the examination, issue the patent agent qualification certificate to the examinees who have passed the examination and been examined.

Chapter VII Confidentiality and emergency handling

Article 49 Examination questions that have not been used shall be classified state secrets, and examination questions and question banks shall be classified state secrets and shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets. 

Article 50 The information of the examiners, the work plan for ordering examination questions, the reference answers, the scoring standards, the examination passing standards, the examination scores of the examiners and other relevant data shall be classified as work secrets and shall not be disclosed without the approval of the State Intellectual Property Office. 

Article 51 The State Intellectual Property Office shall organize and set up a leading group for examination confidentiality, which shall be responsible for formulating relevant work plans for examination confidentiality management, guiding, inspecting and supervising the examination security and confidentiality work of the examination center Bureau, and providing confidentiality education and professional training to relevant personnel involved in examination questions, examination rounds, marking papers, etc. Take effective measures together with the Secrecy Committee of the State Intellectual Property Office to deal with the case of leakage. 

The State Intellectual Property Office has organized and established a leading group for emergency handling of examination emergencies to guide the emergency handling of examination site bureaus and organize and handle major emergencies nationwide. 

Article 52 The examination site bureau shall, together with the confidentiality department at the same level, set up a local examination confidentiality leading group, which shall be responsible for formulating the specific implementation plan of the examination confidentiality system within its own administrative region, supervising and inspecting the implementation of the confidentiality system, examining and verifying the secret-related personnel participating in the examination work and filing with the State Intellectual Property Office. Conduct confidentiality education and professional training for relevant personnel involved in secret examination. 

The examination center bureau shall set up a leading group for the emergency handling of examination emergencies, which shall be responsible for the formulation of the emergency handling plan for examination emergencies within its own administrative region, and be responsible for the handling and reporting of emergencies. 

Article 53 When accepting the entrustment of the State Intellectual Property Office and performing the relevant part of the examination work, the examination service party shall accept the supervision and inspection of the State Intellectual Property Office, strictly abide by the confidentiality laws and regulations, these measures and the specific requirements in the entrustment contract, and strictly manage the relevant personnel involved in the examination. 

Article 54 The State Intellectual Property Office shall formulate specific measures for the administration of examination confidentiality and specific plans for examination emergency treatment.

Chapter VIII Treatment of violations of rules and regulations

Article 55 If an examinee has any of the following circumstances, the invigilator shall give him a verbal warning and order him to make corrections; If the test is not corrected after being warned, the invigilator shall report to the person in charge of the test station, who shall decide to order the violators to leave the test room: 

(1) Carry items prohibited in Article 27 of these measures into the examination room; 

(2) Conduct prohibited by Article 28 of these Measures; 

(3) Intentionally damaging examination equipment; 

(4) Other violations of rules and disciplines.

Article 56 In any of the following circumstances, the invigilator shall report to the person in charge of the examination station, who shall decide to order the violators to leave the examination room, and report to the State Intellectual Property Office for invalidation of the examination results: 

(1) Carrying or viewing materials related to the examination; 

(2) Illegal use of electronic products with communication, storage, recording and playback functions; 

(3) Plagiarizing others' answers or agreeing, acquiescing, or helping others to plagiarize; 

(4) Oral, written or body language to convey the answer information; 

(5) Assisting others in cheating; 

(6) Taking the test content out of the examination room;

(7) Other relatively serious violations of rules and disciplines. 

Article 57 In any of the following circumstances, the invigilator shall report to the person in charge of the examination station, who shall decide to order the violators to leave the examination room, and report to the State Intellectual Property Office for invalidation of the examination results of the current year: 

(1) Colluding with test-takers in other examination rooms or personnel outside the examination rooms to cheat; 

(2) Seriously disturbing the order of the examination room by means of fighting; 

(3) Obstructing examination personnel from performing their duties by threatening, insulting, beating, etc.; 

(4) Other serious violations of rules and disciplines.

Examinees and other personnel who have any of the circumstances prescribed in the preceding paragraph, which constitutes an act violating the administration of public security, shall be transferred to the public security organ for handling; If the case constitutes a crime, it shall be transferred to the judicial organ for handling. 

Article 58 If an examinee has one of the following circumstances, the invigilator shall report to the person in charge of the examination station, who shall decide to order the violator to leave the examination room, and report to the State Intellectual Property Office for its decision to invalidate the examination results of the current year and not register for the patent agent qualification examination for three years: 

(1) having another person take the examination in his or her own name or on behalf of another person; 

(2) serious cases of participating in organized cheating; 

(3) other particularly serious violations of rules and disciplines. 

Examinees and other personnel who have any of the circumstances prescribed in the preceding paragraph, which constitutes an act violating the administration of public security, shall be transferred to the public security organ for handling; If the case constitutes a crime, it shall be transferred to the judicial organ for handling. 

Article 59 Where a person obtains the admission ticket and participates in the examination by providing false certification materials or by other illegal means, the State Intellectual Property Office shall decide to invalidate the examination results of that year. Where the patent agent qualification certificate has been obtained, the State Intellectual Property Office shall decide to revoke the patent agent qualification certificate. 

Article 60 Where an examination worker commits any of the following acts, the State Intellectual Property Office or the examination site Office shall decide to stop him from participating in the examination work of the current year, and give or suggest that the unit to which he belongs deal with the matter according to the seriousness of the circumstances: 

(1) Failing to withdraw from examination work when he or she should; 

(2) It is found that the applicant has provided false certificates or certificates and other acts of concealment; 

(3) Due to the data review, inspection of the examination room or the issuance of admission tickets and other aspects of the work of the failure to participate in the examination as scheduled or the examination work is greatly affected;

(4) Changing the time and place of the examination or other examination arrangements without authorization;

(5) Failure to perform their duties seriously, causing disorder in the examination room in charge; 

(6) Taking test questions and other exam-related content out of the examination room or passing it on to others without authorization; 

(7) The proposer is engaged in teaching, answering questions, counseling and other activities related to the patent agent examination during the confidentiality period; 

(8) The marking staff arbitrarily changes the marking standards in the marking, or does not mark the marking papers according to the marking standards; 

(9) To change or alter the test takers' answer sheets, test scores or original records in the examination room. 

Article 61 In any of the following circumstances, the State Intellectual Property Office or the examination site Office shall decide to suspend the examination personnel from participating in the examination work of the current year, and give them or recommend their units to give them appropriate sanctions according to the seriousness of the circumstances; If the case constitutes a crime, it shall be transferred to the judicial organ for handling:

(1) organizing or participating in organizing cheating in examinations; 

(2) conniving, covering up or helping examinees to cheat; 

(3) losing, leaking or stealing unused test questions, reference answers and scoring standards; 

(4) failing to perform duties as prescribed or committing other violations of rules and disciplines. 

Article 62 Where the State Intellectual Property Office, in accordance with these Measures, invalidated the examination results of the examiners, invalidated the examination results of the current year, prohibited from registering for the patent agent examination for three years, and revoked the patent agent qualification certificate, it shall make a decision in writing and notify the applicant, and implement joint punishment for dishonesty in accordance with the relevant provisions. 

Where violations and discipline violations of the examination staff are dealt with, a decision shall be made in writing and notified to the person, and the relevant evidence materials shall be archived for future reference. 

Article 63 The State Intellectual Property Office or the examination site office may, when it deems necessary, inform the units to which the examiners or examination staff are to be dealt with for violations of rules and disciplines. 

Article 64 If an examinee refuses to accept the decision, he or she may apply for administrative reconsideration or bring an administrative lawsuit in accordance with law.

Chapter IX Supplementary Provisions

Article 65 The examination station in these Measures refers to the school or institution that carries out the examination, the examination room refers to the computer room where the examination is held, the examination machine refers to the examination computer used by the examinee, and the examination staff refers to the personnel involved in the examination order examination questions, the production of examination papers, the invigilation, the examination tour, the examination marking and the examination confidentiality management. 

Article 66 The patent agent qualification certificate issued by the State Intellectual Property Office before the implementation of these Measures shall continue to be valid. 

Article 67 These Measures shall take effect as of June 1, 2019. The Measures for the Implementation of the Qualification Examination for Patent Agents issued by Order No. 47 of the State Intellectual Property Office on August 25, 2008, the Rules for the Examination of the Qualification Examination for Patent Agents issued by Order No. 48 of the State Intellectual Property Office on September 26, 2008, and the Measures for the Treatment of Disciplinary Violations of the Qualification Examination for Patent Agents issued by Order No. 49 of the State Intellectual Property Office on September 26, 2008, shall be repealed simultaneously.