This article is a manual on how to manage, in practice, the maintenance fees for design rights (外观设计) registered in China (CN). Chinese designs use an annuity system paid every year; the procedure is identical to that for invention patents, and the only difference is the fee schedule. It covers, in order, the items a case manager must check — from confirming the anchor date, to running the payment cycle, to responding after a lapse.
1. Summary at a Glance
- System type
- Annual annuity
- Anchor date
- Filing date (annuity count) — payment starts after registration
- Deadline basis
- Up to and including the anniversary of the filing date in that year
- Term
- Filing date + 15 years (filings before 2021-06-01: 10 years)
- Start of payment
- The registration-year annuity at the time of registration formalities — annually thereafter
- Grace period
- 6 months — 5% per month (0 for the first month, max 25%)
- Restoration
- Available — within 2 months of receipt of the termination notice · CNY 1,000
- Reduction
- 85%/70% · 10 years from the registration year (not available in practice to foreign right holders)
- Advance payment
- In one-year units
- Fee overview
- Years 1–3: CNY 600 → Years 11–15: CNY 3,000 each
2. Anchor Date and Deadline Calculation
The basis for counting annuities is the filing date, not the registration date. The deadline is up to and including the anniversary of the filing date in that year, and there is no separate rule such as end-of-month adjustment or treating the day before the anniversary as the due date.
Below are the annuity deadline calculations for a case with a filing date of 2020-06-15 and a registration date of 2023-03-10.
| Annuity year | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | 2021-06-15 |
| Year 2 | 2022-06-15 |
| Year 3 | 2023-06-15 |
| Year 4 | 2024-06-15 |
| Year 5 | 2025-06-15 |
| Year 6 | 2026-06-15 |
| Year 7 | 2027-06-15 |
| Year 8 | 2028-06-15 |
This case has a total of 15 annuity deadlines. As the table shows, the registration date (2023-03-10) is not used in calculating the deadlines. The registration date is relevant only to determining from which annuity year payment actually begins.
3. Start of Payment
Annuities are counted from year 1 based on the filing date, but actual payment begins after registration. The annuity for the registration year is paid together with the registration formalities, and thereafter payment is made each year by the anniversary of the filing date. This structure is identical to that for Chinese invention patents.
Accordingly, in cases where examination is prolonged and registration is delayed, several annuity years will already have elapsed by the time of registration. As in the example above (filed 2020-06-15, registered 2023-03-10), the first annuity year to be paid differs depending on whether the registration date falls before or after the year-3 deadline (2023-06-15), so it is safer for the case manager to fix the annuity number once at the time the notice of registration is received.
4. Grace Period and Surcharge
Even after the anniversary date passes, there is a 6-month grace period. The surcharge accrues at 5% per month.
- Grace period: 6 months after the deadline
- Surcharge formula: 5% per month
- The first month is 0% (no surcharge)
- Cap: 25%
In other words, paying within the first month of the grace period allows the matter to be resolved without any surcharge burden, and the longer the grace period runs, the more the 5% increments accumulate, stopping at a maximum of 25%. In practice, it is more cost-effective not to treat the grace period as a normal procedure, but to aim to recover any case identified as having missed the deadline within the first month.
5. Lapse and Restoration
If payment is not made within the 6-month grace period, the right lapses. China provides a restoration system for this situation.
- Filing deadline
- 2 months from receipt of the termination notice
- Fee
- CNY 1,000
The key management point is that the deadline runs from the "date of receipt of the termination notice." Since it is 2 months from the date the notice reaches the agent — not from the deadline or the lapse date — the date of receipt must be recorded in the case as soon as the notice is forwarded by the Chinese agent, and the restoration deadline must be set up as a separate task. Even a few days' delay in forwarding the notice significantly reduces the time available for substantive review.
The existence of restoration as a system is different from restoration being granted. This manual is guidance on management practice; whether restoration is available in an individual case must be confirmed through the agent.
6. Fee Reductions
The same reduction system as for invention patents applies to annuities for Chinese designs.
- Reduction rate: 85% or 70%
- Scope of application: 10 years from the registration year
- Foreign right holders cannot use it in practice
7. Advance and Bulk Payment
Advance payment is possible in one-year units. Handling several years together in a single bundle is not contemplated.
However, since cases with delayed registration follow a structure in which the registration-year annuity is paid at the time of registration formalities, payment events can cluster right after registration. Confirming both the annuity number for that year and the amount at the time the notice of registration is received will secure lead time for preparing the remittance.
8. Official Fees
Below is the annuity schedule for Chinese designs. The currency is CNY (元), and the amounts are per year.
| Annuity year range | Annuity (CNY / year) |
|---|---|
| Years 1–3 | 600 |
| Years 4–5 | 900 |
| Years 6–8 | 1,200 |
| Years 9–10 | 2,000 |
| Years 11–15 | 3,000 |
Surcharges and restoration-related costs are as follows.
| Item | Amount / formula |
|---|---|
| Grace period surcharge | 5% per month (0 for the first month, max 25%) |
| Restoration fee | CNY 1,000 |
9. Management Checklist
9-1. Values that must be filled in when registering a case
- Filing date — both the annuity count and every annual deadline derive from this date. If this field is empty, all 15 deadlines will either fail to calculate or be wrong. This is the first field to fill in.
- The 2021-06-01 cutoff determination for the filing date — for earlier filings, the term becomes the filing date + 10 years, which changes the number of annuities itself.
- Registration date — not used in calculating deadlines, but it determines the first annuity year to be paid.
- Filing route (direct national / via the Hague System) — Hague designations are not subject to CNIPA annuity payments, so no annuity task should be created for them.
- Date of receipt of the termination notice — used only in lapsed cases, but it is the sole starting point for the restoration deadline (receipt + 2 months).
9-2. The annual payment cycle
- Fix the annuity number for that year based on the anniversary of the filing date.
- Check the amount corresponding to that annuity number in the Section 8 table (pay particular attention to years 4, 6, 9 and 11, where the range changes).
- Work backwards from the anniversary date to schedule instructions to the agent and the remittance. The deadline is up to and including the anniversary date.
- Obtain the payment confirmation, record it in the case, and fix the next annuity deadline.
- For any case not confirmed after the anniversary date has passed, switch immediately to grace period handling. Since the surcharge is 0 in the first month of the grace period, recovery within this window is the primary goal.
- For cases where the 6-month grace period has expired, confirm the date of receipt of the termination notice and set up the restoration deadline (receipt + 2 months) as a separate task.
- For cases that have reached the end of the term (filing date + 15 years, or +10 years for cases under the former law), close out the annuity task.
9-3. Points that frequently go wrong
- Mistakenly taking the registration date as the anchor date — the annuity count for Chinese designs is based on the filing date.
- Applying a 15-year term to cases under the former law (filed before 2021-06-01), leaving annuity tasks in place after expiry.
- In delayed-registration cases, omitting payment of the registration-year annuity while managing only the following year's anniversary date.
- Budgeting on the assumption of reduced fees, so that the difference in amount surfaces just before the deadline.
- Erroneously creating CNIPA annuity tasks for cases filed via the Hague System.
In iphere's overseas annuity and renewal management, entering the filing date and the filing route in a case produces the deadlines for the above cycle on an annuity-by-annuity basis. However, values that arrive on a case-by-case basis, such as the date of receipt of the termination notice, must be recorded by the case manager for the restoration deadline to be brought under management.
Sources, cut-off date and disclaimer
This manual is based on iphere's August 2026 survey of country-by-country overseas maintenance rules, together with values produced by the deadline engine that runs on those same rules. Official fees and deadline rules change by office notice, so please confirm against the official source and your local agent before any actual payment or filing.