While the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) ceased automatically issuing paper patent certificates in 2020, patentees could still request a paper certificate. However, per CNIPA announcement 472 released February 11, 2022, CNIPA will no longer accept requests for paper certificates as of March 1, 2022. Accordingly, patentees looking for “old school” hard copy patent certificates need to request them by the end of February 2022. Similarly, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) proposed to cease issuing paper patent certificates starting in 2022.
