The CNIPA recently revised the " Interim Measures for Handling Relevant Operations after Accession to the Hague Agreement” (“Measures”) and issued the revised Measures, which came into force from January 11, 2023.
The relevant Measures are as follows.

Article 1  Starting from May 5, 2022, Chinese entities or individuals may, in accordance with the provisions of Article 19(2) of the Patent Law and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (1999 Act) (hereinafter referred to as the "Hague Agreement"), file applications for international registration of industrial designs.
An applicant may either submit applications for international registration of industrial designs directly to the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter referred to as the WIPO) or submit applications for international registration of industrial designs in English language through the CNIPA.
Where an application for international registration of an industrial design is submitted through the CNIPA, the relevant materials shall be submitted in either paper form or electronic form that complies with provisions of the Hague Agreement and the CNIPA.
The relevant fees under the Hague Agreement shall be paid by the applicant directly to the WIPO.

Article 2  An application for international registration of a design for which the date of international registration has been fixed in accordance with the Hague Agreement and for which China has been designated (hereinafter referred to as an international design application) is regarded as a design patent application filed with the CNIPA. The date of the international registration shall be regarded as the filing date referred to in Article 28 of the Patent Law.

Article 3  The CNIPA handles an international design application in accordance with the Patent Law, the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law, the Patent Examination Guidelines and the Measures.
Starting from the date of implementation of the Measures, the CNIPA grants a national application number to an international design application, conducts an examination and notifies the International Bureau of the results of the examination.
Where no reasons for refusal are found for an international design application after examination, the CNIPA makes a decision to grant a patent and notifies the WIPO.
Where an international design application is not found to be in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Patent Law and its implementing regulations after examination, the CNIPA shall issue a notice of refusal to the WIPO.

Article 4  Where an international design application published by the WIPO includes a specification containing main design points, it shall be deemed that a brief specification has been submitted in accordance with the provisions.

Article 5  For an international design application, when responding to an Office Action, the applicant shall submit Observations in Chinese and make amendments in English if the text of the application is amended.

Article 6  For an international design application, the CNIPA does not charge a fee for claiming a priority.
Where a priority is claimed, the applicant shall submit a certified copy of the priority document to the CNIPA within three months from the date of publication of the international design application if he or she did not submit a certified copy of the priority document at the time of filing the international design application.
If the applicant recorded in the certified copy of the priority document is inconsistent with the applicant of the international design application, the applicant shall submit relevant supporting documents to the CNIPA within three months from the date of publication of the international design application.
If the applicant fails to submit a certified copy of the priority or the relevant supporting documents within the prescribed time limit, the priority is deemed not to have been claimed. Where an international design application is deemed not to have claimed priority, the provisions of Article 6 of the Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law shall not apply to such international design application.

Article 7  The applicant of an international design application shall comply with the provisions of Article 18(1) of the Patent Law when responding to a notice of refusal, filing a request for re-examination or handling other patent matters, except as otherwise stipulated in the Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law.

Article 8  The applicant of an international design application may file a divisional application with the CNIPA within two months from the date of publication of the international design application.
Where an applicant files a divisional application in accordance with the examination opinion, such divisional application shall be filed at the latest within two months from the domestic announcement date of the original application. After the above-mentioned time limit expires, or the original application has been rejected, or the original application is deemed withdrawn and has not been restored, generally no divisional application can be filed.

Article 9  Where the applicant believes that the design involved in an international design application falls under the circumstances listed in Item (2) or Item (3) of Article 24 of the Patent Law, a statement shall be made when filing the international design application, and relevant supporting documents along with an explanation shall be submitted to the CNIPA within two months from the date of the publication of the international design application. Where no statement is made or no supporting documents are submitted, the international design application will  not be subject to the provisions of Article 24 of the Patent Law.

Article 10  Where the applicant pays the fees related to an international design application, such fees shall be paid in full under the national application number or the international registration number in accordance with the provisions of the WIPO and the CNIPA. The payment standard for individual designation fee of an international design application shall be implemented in accordance with the "Notice of the CNIPA on Matters Relating to the Annual Fee and Individual Designation Fee for Design Patents".

Article 11  Where the applicant or the patentee of an international design application requests a change of rights, in addition to filing a request with the WIPO, the applicant shall also submit supporting documents to the CNIPA. Supporting documents in foreign languages shall be accompanied by a brief Chinese translation. If no supporting documents are submitted or if the supporting documents are not qualified, the CNIPA shall notify the WIPO that the change of rights is not effective in China.

Article 12  After an international design application is granted and published, the applicant may request the CNIPA to issue a copy of the patent register for the international design application as a proof that the patent protection has been granted in China.

Article 13  In the invalidation procedure of an international design application, the documents can be delivered by mail, fax, e-mail or public notice for the patentee who has no domicile in the mainland of China. Where the documents are delivered by public notice, they shall be deemed to have been delivered one month from the date of the notice.

Article 14  Where the applicant is not satisfied with the relevant decisions made by the CNIPA in accordance with the Measures, he or she may apply for administrative reconsideration, request reexamination or file an administrative lawsuit.

Article 15  The applicant of an international design application shall submit a request in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Agreement, the Patent Law and its implementing regulations, and the Guidelines for Patent Examination when handling legal procedures and affairs other than those stipulated in the Measures.

Article 16  The Measures shall come into force on January 11, 2023. The "Interim Measures for Handling Relevant Operations after Accession to the Hague Agreement" (the CNIPA Announcement No. 481) that came into force on May 5, 2022 shall be abolished simultaneously.