Patent applications requiring confidentiality

Article 4 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China for Patent applications that require confidentiality stipulates: "If the invention or creation for which a patent is applied for involves national security or major interests and needs to be kept confidential, it shall be handled in accordance with relevant national regulations." This refers to countries where invention patent applications involve national defense. If secrets need to be kept, the agency that accepts patents is the National Defense Patent Agency; applications for invention patents that are accepted by the Patent Administration Agency of the State Council and involve national defense-related national secrets that need to be kept confidential shall be handed over to the National Defense Patent Agency for review, and the Patent Administration Department of the State Council shall, in accordance with the requirements of the National Defense Patent Agency decision based on review opinions. After accepting an invention patent application, the patent administration department of the State Council shall transfer the application that requires confidentiality review to the relevant competent departments of the State Council for review. The relevant competent departments shall notify the patent administration department of the State Council of the results of the review within four months from the date of receipt of the application. If confidentiality is required, the patent administration department of the State Council will handle the application as a confidential patent and notify the applicant.