China’s Implementing Rules for the Revised Integrated Circuit Layout Design Regulations Set Procedures for Originality Declarations, Third-Party Revocation, and Infringement Dispute Handling

On September 30, 2026, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published the revised Implementing Rules of the Regulations on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits (集成电路布图设计保护条例实施细则) as CNIPA Order No. 86. The Implementing Rules take effect on October 30, 2026, and replace the Implementing Rules issued in 2001. The Implementing Rules set content requirements for the declaration of originality, procedures for revocation requests filed by third parties, procedures for CNIPA’s administrative handling of infringement disputes, and more.

The sections below describe how the Implementing Rules address four areas in the Regulations. The full text of the Implementing Rules is available here (Chinese only).

Regulations Article 9 requires good faith in filing and in exercising the exclusive right, and refers abuse that constitutes monopoly conduct to the Anti-Monopoly Law. Regulations Article 20 requires that applications be based on genuine creative activity and prohibits falsification. The Implementing Rules address these requirements through grounds for non-acceptance, through facts that are fixed at filing, and through the non-voluntary license remedy for monopoly conduct.

Non-acceptance. Article 16 of the Implementing Rules lists the circumstances in which CNIPA does not accept an application. Two of these describe filing conduct:

• the same applicant repeatedly files an application for the same layout design (Article 16(8)); and
• the application form, the reproduction or drawings, the declaration of originality, and any required integrated circuit sample are manifestly inconsistent with one another (Article 16(1)).

Applications in these categories are stopped at acceptance, before preliminary examination under Regulations Article 27, which covers Regulations Article 20.

Facts fixed at filing. The application form must state the creator’s name, the date of creation completion, and the date of any commercial exploitation referred to in Regulations Article 26 (Article 9(5), (6), and (9)). Chinese applicants must also state an identity document number or unified social credit code (Article 9(3)). Under Article 21(2), four items generally may not be changed after filing: the creator’s name, the classification of the integrated circuit, the date of creation completion, and the date of first commercial exploitation.

The creation completion date and the first commercial exploitation date determine the protection term under Regulations Article 17 and the filing bar under Regulations Article 26. Because these dates generally cannot be changed, an applicant cannot adjust them after filing to extend the term or avoid the bar. Violation of Regulations Article 20 is a revocation ground under Regulations Article 30(3), and revocation requests on that ground follow the procedure in Section 3.

Monopoly conduct. Article 45(2) of the Implementing Rules sets out the remedy at CNIPA for the conduct referred to in Regulations Article 9(2). Where the right holder’s exercise of the exclusive right has been determined according to law to be monopoly conduct requiring a remedy, a natural person, legal person, or unincorporated organization with the conditions for implementation may request a non-voluntary license under Regulations Article 39. The procedure works as follows:

1.The requester files a request stating reasons.

Fees for a non-voluntary license request and for a ruling on the license fee are due within 1 month of the request (Articles 47(4) and 49(3)).

The Regulations make four related changes. Article 22 adds the declaration of originality (独创性声明) to the required filing documents. Article 23 requires that the reproduction or drawings clearly display the portion possessing originality. Article 24 requires that the declaration identify the design area, design points, and corresponding functions possessing originality. Article 34 provides that the protected layout design is determined by the registered reproduction or drawings, and that the declaration of originality may be used to interpret originality.

Reproduction or drawings. Article 10 of the Implementing Rules sets out what “clearly display” in Regulations Article 23 requires:

• the overall drawing, plus all layer drawings related to the original portion;
• layer drawings numbered sequentially, with a table naming each layer;
• the original portion clearly discernible;
• A4 format for paper submissions, with larger sheets folded to A4;
• CNIPA data format requirements for electronic submissions.

Article 12 specifies that the original portion referred to in Regulations Article 23 must include an area capable of performing an independent function (可以实现独立功能的区域).

Content of the declaration. Article 13 converts the three elements in Regulations Article 24 (design area, design points, and functions) into drafting requirements:

1. Each original portion is identified. Multiple portions are numbered sequentially, with the reasons for originality stated for each. Where the design is original as a whole, the reasons for originality as a whole are stated.

Confidential information. Regulations Article 23 requires the original portion to be displayed, and Regulations Article 50(2) restricts access to the electronic version of the reproduction or drawings. Article 11 of the Implementing Rules adds conditions on confidential information within the filing:

• Confidential information is permitted only where the design was not commercially exploited before the filing date.
• It may not exceed 50% of the total layout design area.
• The page numbers and total page count of confidential layers must match the application form (Article 9(10)).
• Paper copies of confidential layers are submitted in a separate confidential envelope.

No person may inspect or copy the confidential information except as required for state organs to perform statutory duties. Article 11 uses the same exception wording as Regulations Article 50(2). Public inspection under Regulations Article 50(1) excludes confidential layers (Article 52).

Integrated circuit samples. Regulations Article 22(2) requires a sample where the design has been commercially exploited. Article 14 of the Implementing Rules specifies how samples are submitted:

• at the same time as the application documents;
• in a dedicated container that protects them from damage;
• with the container marked with the applicant’s name, the request number, and the name of the integrated circuit;
• fixed in place and capable of storage in a desiccator for at least 10 years;
• at least 4 samples.

Examination. An application lacking the declaration of originality is not accepted (Article 16(1)). Other deficiencies are handled under Article 17: the applicant has 2 months from receipt of an examination opinion notice to state opinions or make corrections, failing which the application is deemed withdrawn. CNIPA may correct obvious errors in text and symbols on its own initiative, with notice to the applicant.

Use of the declaration in later proceedings. The Implementing Rules apply Regulations Article 34 in three later proceedings, so that the declaration as filed defines what the right holder can assert:

• In revocation proceedings, the right holder may abandon claimed original portions but may not add to or change them (Article 31).
• A decision that maintains the right with a changed declaration is published (Article 35).
• In administrative handling of infringement disputes, the requester asserts portions from the declaration as the basis for the claim (Article 43).

Regulations Article 30(2) permits any person to request revocation of a registration that does not comply with the Regulations. Article 30(3) lists the grounds. Article 31 provides that a revoked right is deemed never to have existed. According to the explanatory note, the Implementing Rules add oral hearings and non-extendable periods. Article 23 assigns examination of revocation cases to CNIPA.

Ex officio revocation. Where CNIPA finds under Regulations Article 30(1) that a registration does not comply, it notifies the right holder to state opinions within a designated period. A failure to respond does not affect CNIPA’s examination (Article 28(1)).

Filing a request. The requester submits a revocation request and the necessary evidence. The request must state the specific grounds in combination with the evidence and identify the evidence on which each ground relies. CNIPA sends copies to the right holder, who states opinions within a designated period. A failure by either party to respond to transfer notices or examination opinion notices does not affect CNIPA’s examination (Article 28(2)–(4)).

Acceptance. CNIPA does not accept a request that does not comply with Regulations Article 5(2), which requires foreign parties without a habitual residence or place of business in China to act through a patent agency, or with Regulations Article 30. A new request on the same grounds and evidence as a decided request is not accepted. A request not in the prescribed format must be corrected within a designated period; if it is not corrected, it is deemed not filed (Article 29).

Course of the proceeding. The requester may add grounds or supplement evidence within 1 month of filing the request. Later additions may be disregarded (Article 30). Before a decision, the right holder may abandon claimed original portions but may not add to or change them (Article 31).

CNIPA may hold an oral hearing at a party’s request or where the case requires it. A requester who neither responds to the hearing notice nor attends is deemed to have withdrawn the request (Article 32). Periods designated by CNIPA in revocation proceedings may not be extended (Article 33).

Withdrawal. The requester may withdraw the request before a decision. Withdrawal or deemed withdrawal terminates the proceeding, unless CNIPA considers that it can decide based on the examination already conducted (Article 34).

Publication and effect on other records. Revocation decisions, and decisions maintaining the right with a changed declaration, are published on the CNIPA website and in China Intellectual Property News (中国知识产权报) (Article 35). Revocation is recorded in the layout design register (Article 50(7)). Pledge registration after a revocation proceeding has been initiated requires the pledgee’s consent (Article 39(2)). Case files are not retained after 3 years from the date the right lapses (Article 53).

Regulations Article 45 permits the right holder or an interested party to file suit in court or to request handling by CNIPA. Where CNIPA finds infringement, it may order the infringer to stop the infringing acts and may confiscate and destroy infringing products or articles. At a party’s request, CNIPA may mediate the damages amount; if mediation fails, a party may file suit. The Implementing Rules set out the conditions for a request, the scope of review, and the suspension of proceedings.

Nature of the proceeding and mediation. Article 41 identifies CNIPA’s handling of these disputes as administrative adjudication (行政裁决) cases, initiated at the request of the right holder or an interested party. At a party’s request, CNIPA may mediate the amount of damages.

Conditions for a request. Article 42 sets the following conditions:

Scope of review. The requester must specify one or more original portions from the declaration of originality as the basis for the claim. The requester may change the asserted portions, but only until the end of oral hearing debate. CNIPA determines the scope of review based on the asserted portions (Article 43). Infringement is therefore assessed against portions drawn from the declaration as registered, or as narrowed in revocation proceedings under Article 31.

Suspension. Where a dispute over ownership of the application right or the exclusive right has been filed in court, a party may request suspension of the related CNIPA proceedings, with the court’s acceptance documents attached. CNIPA may decline to suspend where the stated reason is manifestly unfounded. If the ownership dispute is not concluded within 1 year of the suspension request, the requester must request an extension within that period; otherwise CNIPA resumes the proceedings on its own initiative. Where a court orders preservation measures against the exclusive right, CNIPA suspends the related proceedings while assisting enforcement and resumes them when the preservation period expires without renewal (Article 44).