The time limit for requesting patent substantive examination is three years. According to relevant legal provisions, within three years from the filing date of an invention patent application, the patent administration department of the State Council may conduct a substantive examination of the patent application based on the request made by the applicant at any time or when it deems it necessary.

Legal Basis

Article 22 of the Patent Law that came into effect on June 1, 2021

Inventions and utility models for which patent rights are granted shall be Be novel, creative and practical.

Novelty means that the invention or utility model does not belong to the existing technology; no unit or individual has applied for the same invention or utility model to the patent administration department of the State Council before the application date, and It shall be recorded in patent application documents or published patent documents published after the filing date.

Creativity means that compared with the existing technology, the invention has outstanding substantive features and significant progress, and the utility model has substantive features and progress.

Practiceability means that the invention or utility model can be manufactured or used and can produce positive effects.

Article 35

Within three years from the filing date of an invention patent application, the patent administration department of the State Council may conduct a substantive examination of the application upon request made by the applicant at any time; the application If a person fails to request substantive examination within the time limit without justifiable reasons, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn.

When the patent administration department of the State Council deems it necessary, it may conduct a substantive examination of an invention patent application on its own.