The European Patent Office is pleased to announce that as of 3 September 2012 it is implementing automatic elec- tronic exchange of priority documents with the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of the People's Republic of China for first filings at SIPO and the EPO.

To qualify for this service, which is free of charge and not subject to any formal- ities on the part of the applicant, the European patent application or the Chinese national patent or utility model application claiming priority from a first filing at the other office must have been filed on or after 3 September 2012.

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