According to the Announcement No. 350 released on January 28, 2020 by the CNIPA, if the applicant fails to take action within the legal or specified time limit and loses right because the party concerned is hospitalized or quarantined, or because patent business cannot be handled normally in the place where the applicant locates due to governmental prevention and control measures, the right can be restored by filing a request no later than two months after the date when the party concerned is discharged from hospital or quarantine, or when the local place resumes work and the management and control on people ends. Such request for restoration of right based on force majeure can be made without paying the official restoration fee, and shall be filed within two years from the initial time limit to the latest.

The evidence needed for such restoration request may be a certificate of hospitalization or quarantine, or a copy of proclamation on declaring a national emergency issued by the local government.

Moreover, according to the official interpretation of the Announcement, late payment of annuity will not trigger the six-month surcharge, where the applicant fails to pay the annuity because of the governmental prevention and control measures.

However, it shall be noted that the Announcement No. 350 does not apply to the following time limits:

* six-month novelty grace period for invention patent applications which is prescribed by Article 24 of Chinese Patent Law,

* twelve-month priority deadline for invention/utility model patent applications and six-month priority deadline for design applications, which are prescribed by Article 29 of Patent Law,

* twenty-year invention patent term and ten-year utility model/design patent term, as prescribed by Article 42 of Patent Law, and

* two-year patent infringement appeal deadline as prescribed by Article 68 of Patent Law.