Since November 2019, applicants have been able to request deferral of examination for Chinese invention and design patent applications. And following the revision of the Patent Examination Guidelines in December 2023, provisions have been added to allow deferral of examination for utility model patent applications, as well as the withdrawal of such requests.

Deferral of examination can be an option under certain circumstances: where the applicant needs time to decide whether to proceed with the Chinese patent examination process based on factors such as the product life cycle, changes in market conditions, and the examination results of foreign counterpart patent applications; to better align the timing of grant with commercialization of the patent; to take advantage of the latest examination policies; to keep the possibility of further amendments, making it difficult for competitors to predict the scope of protection; and to adapt the scope of claims during formulation of international, national, or industry standards.

Details of the delayed examination of different types of Chinese patent applications are as follows:

Please note that for patent applications filed on or after October 1, 2025, if applicants wish to utilize special procedures such as deferred examination, prioritized examination, accelerated pre-examination, the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), or centralized examination procedures, they will need to submit the application documents in XML format. Failure to submit the new application files in XML format, or subsequent submission of amendment or replacement documents in non-XML formats, will be regarded as an automatic waiver of the right to use the relevant special examination procedures.