On February 9, 2022, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Announcement No. 472 on the Adjustment of the Way of Issuing Patent Certificates for Electronic Patent Application.

From March 1, 2022, the CNIPA has stopped receiving requests for paper patent certificate of electronic patent applications, and will only issue electronic patent certificates through the electronic patent application system.

Before March 1, 2022, for electronic patent applications with a grant announcement date between March 3, 2020 and February 25, 2022, the applicant, if needed, could submit a request and obtain a paper patent certificate through the patent electronic application website (http://cponline.cnipa.gov.cn).

The implementation of this announcement shows that Chinese patent certificates have fully entered the electronic age.