On September 22, 2025, the All-China Patent Attorneys Association (ACPAA) released the revised Code of Professional Ethics and Practice Discipline for Patent Agents (专利代理职业道德与执业纪律规范) “to further improve the professional quality of patent agents, standardize the practice of patent agents, and ensure the high-quality development of the patent agency industry” in China. Two key changes include prohibitions against using artificial intelligence to directly generate patent application documents and maliciously lowering the price of patent agency services. Earlier this year, Nanjing banned the use of AI in drafting patent application documents for pre-examination.
The ACPAA is a voluntary pseudo-governmental organization for Chinese patent attorneys that was approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). However, the ACPAA’s enforcement powers are limited to expelling members. One of the main objectives of the ACPAA is to “reinforce the self-discipline of the profession, strengthen the rules of professional conduct, improve the service of patent representation and other related practice, and promote high-quality development of the patent representation profession.”
A translation of the two relevant Articles follows:
Article 15 Patent agents shall ensure the quality of patent agency services and shall be responsible for the patent agency business they sign.
Patent agents may not use artificial intelligence to directly generate patent application documents for final submission.
Article 48 Patent agencies shall not engage in unfair competition in the following ways:
(1) Making false claims about one’s own professional capabilities, maliciously hyping up cases, or conducting comparative publicity with other patent agencies;
(2) maliciously lowering the price of patent agency services;
(3) Expressing or implying a special relationship with a judicial organ, administrative organ, social group, or their staff;
(4) proactively contacting clients of other patent agencies regarding specific cases, or undertaking patent agency business obtained through the above-mentioned means;
(5) soliciting business by making negative comments about other patent agencies;
(6) making improper promises regarding patent applications or the results of patent cases;
(7) Soliciting business by offering or promising to offer illegal commissions, kickbacks, referral fees, or other benefits;
(8) infringing upon the trade secrets of other patent agencies;
(9) Other acts that undermine the fair competition order in the industry.
The full text of revised Code can be found here (Chinese only).
