According to a recent survey published by the State Intellectual Property Office, the social public is becoming more and more satisfied with the quality of patent examination, and the degree of such satisfaction was 79.4 in 2009 as compared to 77.3 in 2008. The survey also showed that the public is getting more confident and there was less complaint.
With regard to the examination results and accuracy of the examination progress, the degree was 82.0 as compared to 76.8 in 2008. In terms of the substantive examination, 70% of the respondents expressed their satisfaction with the searched references. The respondents were also satisfied with the applicable articles or rules cited in the official actions. With regard to PCT international search and preliminary examination, the respondents showed a degree of 79.3 satisfactions for the cited references provided by the examiners. The survey again showed a great concern by the respondent with regard to the substantive part of the examination based on the searches.
With regard to the preliminary examination, reexamination and invalidation, the degree of satisfaction is much higher than that of 2008.
In terms of the efficiency of the examination, respondents differ regarding the pending period and examination expectation. About 64% of the respondents can accept more than 6 months of pending for preliminary examination; only 27% of the respondents expect the pending period to be within 3 months. The statistics from the SIPO show that in 2009, the pending period was 5.8 months and 5.5 months for utility model and design applications respectively.
It is also learned from the survey that more than half of the respondents expect the first official communication to be issued within 4 months; nearly half of the respondents expect the substantive examination to be concluded within 6 months.
For reexamination and invalidation, 79.3% of the respondents can accept the pending period to be 6 or more than 6 months. The statistics show that in 2009, the average pending period for reexamination and invalidation was 7.4 months, which is very close to the expectation of the public.
According to the SIPO, the survey is a reflection of the status of the examination quality of the SIPO. It is said that SIPO already established a scientific and comprehensive administrative system for patent examination. SIPO will continue its efforts to collect the opinions from the public and respond to the social needs and further improve the examination efficiency and quality.
