According to the provisions of the “Announcement on Matters Related to Electronic Patent Certificate and Electronic Seal of Patent Electronic Application Notification (No. 349)” issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), for patent electronic applications with authorization announcement date after March 3, 2020 (inclusive), CNIPA will issue electronic patent certificates through the patent electronic application system instead of paper patent certificates. However, if necessary, user of electronic application registration can make a request through the patent electronic application website to obtain a paper patent certificate.

In June 2019, the State Council of China held a national teleconference on deepening the reform of the management service and optimizing business environment. Later, many specific plans were formulated, among which an important part was to accelerate the promotion and application of electronic business licenses and electronic seals, and to simplify on-site registration.

The key technology of electronic patent certificate is electronic seal. CNIPA is responding to the national “Internet+ Government Servives” policy, actively promoting electronic patent certificates, using electronic seals, and stressing that “electronic patent certificates with electronic seals have the same legal effect as paper patent certificates”. Compared with the paper patent certificates, the electronic ones have obvious advantages: first of all, to apply for an electronic patent certificate, you only need to verify the identity of the patent applicant online. It is more conducive to improving the efficiency of government affairs and saving the time and economic cost of the patent applicant. Secondly, an electronic patent certificate uses digital encryption and other technologies to prevent counterfeiting. At the same time, it ensures that the whole process of patent examination and approval is traceable, and promotes transparent, efficient, and standardized operations. Finally, for the certificate holder, an electronic patent certificate is conducive to storage, and the storage cost is low, so there is no need to set up a special storage space. In fact, it often happens that the certificate holder loses the patent certificate and has to re-apply through a tedious and time-consuming procedure, which brings inconvenience to the holder.

If the applicant or the right holder has doubts about the authenticity of the electronic patent certificate, notice and decision electronic document, it can be verified through the patent electronic application website.