On March 26, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Office (CNIPA) released their 2026 Budget (国家知识产权局2026年部门预算). In 2026, CNIPA plans to examine ≥ 2.30 million patent applications (up 274,000 from 2025) and ≥ 6.28 million trademark applications. CNIPA is aiming for ≥ 5,000 applicants to pass the patent bar examination (up 500 from 2025). Other data points follow. The full Budget is available here (Chinese only).
CNIPA is budgeting for:
- ≥4.5 million trademark change, transfer, and renewal applications,
- ≥197,600 trademark cancellation cases,
- ≥118,000 trademark opposition cases,
- ≥356,000 trademark review cases,
- average examination period for trademark registration applications is within 4 months,
- the average cycle for classification of invention patent applications is ≤3 months,
- the average cycle for classification of utility model patent applications is ≤2 months,
- ≥42,000 trademark or patent pledges (mortgage).
