Article 118  Any person may, after approval by the patent administration department of the State Council, consult or copy the files of the published or announced patent applications or the Patent Register, and any person may request the patent administration department of the State Council to issue a copy of extracts from the Patent Register.
Where a patent application is withdrawn or deemed withdrawn or is rejected, the files of the application shall not be preserved after the expiration of two years from the date on which the application ceases to be valid.
Where the patent right is abandoned, wholly invalidated or ceased, the files of the patent shall not be preserved after the expiration of three years from the date on which the patent right ceases to be valid.
 

Article 119  Any application which is filed with, or any formality which is gone through with, the patent administration department of the State Council, shall be signed or sealed by the applicant, the patentee, any other interested person or his or its representative, and shall be sealed by a patent agency if such agency is appointed.
Where a change in the name of the inventor, or in the name or title, nationality and address of the applicant or the patentee, or in the title and address of the patent agency or the name of the patent agent is requested, a request for a change in the bibliographic data shall be submitted to the patent administration department of the State Council, together with the relevant certifying documents.
 

Article 120  Any document relating to a patent application or patent right which is to be sent by mail to the patent administration department of the State Council, shall be sent by registered letter, not by parcel.
With regard to any document which is submitted to, or any formality which is gone through with, the patent administration department of the State Council, except for a patent application filed for the first time, the filing number or the patent number, the title of the invention-creation and the name or title of the applicant or the patentee shall be indicated.
Only documents relating to the same application shall be included in one letter.
 

Article 121  Various kinds of application documents shall be typed or printed, and all the characters shall be in black ink, neat and clear, and free from any alterations. The drawings shall be made in black ink with the aid of drafting instruments, and the lines shall be uniformly thick and well defined, and free from any alterations.
The request, description, claims, drawings and abstract shall be numbered separately in Arabic numerals and arranged in numerical order.
The written language of an application shall run from left to right. Only one side of each sheet shall be used.
 

Article 122  The patent administration department of the State Council shall formulate Guidelines for Examination in accordance with the Patent Law and these Rules.
 

Article 123  These Rules shall be effective as of July 1, 2001. The Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China approved by the State Council on December 12, 1992 and promulgated by the Patent Office of the People's Republic of China on December 21, 1992, shall be repealed simultaneously.