Concerning foreign enterprises and joint venture enterprises which are established in China and have already been qualified as law persons in China, they can apply for patent in China as what Chinese enterprises do, by either directly filing their applications to State Intellectual Property Office of P.R.C. or entrusting a Chinese patent agency to do so.

If a foreign enterprise registered in China, is only a branch or a subsidiary of a foreign company, and the foreign company intends to file a patent application in China in its own name, the said application shall be filed according to the procedures applicable to foreign enterprises. If the branch company has already been registered in China and is qualified as a Chinese legal entity, and an application for patent is filed in the name of the said branch company, the said application shall be handled according to the same procedures as what local Chinese legal entities follow.