Notice from the China Institute of Navigation on Organizing Recommendations for the 26th China Patent Awards
CIN [2025] No.134
To all relevant entities:
In accordance with the requirements outlined in the Notice from the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Transport on Organizing Recommendations for the 26th China Patent Awards (Science and Technology Development Letter [2025] No. 593), the relevant matters concerning the organization of recommendations for the 26th China Patent Awards are hereby notified as follows.
- Eligibility Criteria
The patentees and inventors (designers) of the nominated patents must resolutely implement the Party's guidelines, principles, and policies, exemplarily abide by national laws and regulations, maintain a good social reputation, and uphold high standards of public and professional ethics.
The nominated patents must meet all of the following basic conditions:
（1）The patent must have been granted by the China National Intellectual Property Administration as an invention patent, utility model patent, or design patent on or before December 31, 2024 (inclusive, based on the authorization announcement date) (including declassified national defense patents, excluding confidential patents).
(2) The patent must be valid, with no legal disputes as of the submission deadline, and there must be no outstanding annual fees or late payment penalties.
(3) All patentees must consent to participate in the evaluation.
(4) The patent must not have previously received a China Patent Award.
(5) Each patent shall be evaluated as a single project.
This year’s awards evaluation further emphasizes the requirements of high-quality development. Priority will be given to recommending patents that demonstrate outstanding achievements in industrialization or significant social benefits, particularly core patents formed in areas such as basic research, applied basic research, cutting-edge technologies, and breakthroughs in tackling critical “bottleneck” technical challenges.
- Nomination and Recommendation Procedures
The China Patent Awards adopt a project nomination system, with recommendations and reviews conducted from the bottom up and level by level.
（1）Nomination
Nominating organizations shall, for projects that meet the eligibility criteria, propose recommendations after soliciting broad opinions. These recommendations must be publicized within the organization, either online or in written form, for a period of no less than five working days. After the publicity period concludes with no objections, or if objections are raised but resolved and a subsequent publicity period also concludes without objections, the project shall be submitted to higher levels according to the established procedures. Each nominated project must select a single channel for recommendation and may not apply through multiple channels.
（2）Recommendation
Member organizations of the China Institute of Navigation may serve as recommending organizations. They are responsible for reviewing the eligibility criteria, submitted materials, recommendation procedures, and publicity status of the recommended projects to ensure the materials are complete, authentic, and accurate, and contain no classified information. Each organization is, in principle, limited to recommending no more than one project in total for the China Patent Award and the China Design Award.
(3)Selection
The China Institute of Navigation will organize the evaluation of recommended projects based on eligibility criteria and patent quality. It will propose a list of recommended candidates and, following the established procedures, submit them to the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Transport for evaluation and final approval before forwarding them to the China National Intellectual Property Administration.
III. Requirements for Material Submission
(1) Letter of Recommendation and Publicity Verification Materials
The recommending organization must submit one copy of the letter of recommendation (electronic version, official letter format, see Attachment 1) along with scanned copies, photos, or screenshots of the publicity verification materials.
(2) List of Recommended Projects
The list should include the patent number, patent name, patentee, and reasons for recommendation.
(3) Project Documentation
One set of project documentation (electronic version) is required for each project, including:
1. Application Form for the China Patent Award (in WORD format). Please download it from the China Patent Award section of the official website of the China National Intellectual Property Administration:
https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/col/col41/index.html.
2. Patent Authorization Announcement Text.
3. The attachments include scanned copies of materials such as images, photos, award certificates, and project application proofs. For details regarding patent licensing, the recordation certificate of the patent licensing contract must be submitted. For patent pledge financing information, the notice of patent pledge registration should be provided. If the project primarily relies on the nominated patent to gain a competitive market advantage, a recordation certificate from the National Patent-Intensive Product Recordation and Certification Pilot Platform (https://www.zlcp.org.cn/) for the product related to the nominated patent may be submitted. For economic benefit data, supporting materials such as a special audit report on the economic benefits of the nominated patent issued by a qualified accounting firm can be included. All attachments must be combined into a single PDF document not exceeding 20 MB.
Implementation Requirements
Recommending organizations must submit the materials for nominated projects (including the letter of recommendation, the list of recommended projects, and project documentation) to the email address of the China Institute of Navigation by 17:00 on December 5, 2025. On-site submissions will not be accepted, and projects with non-compliant materials or submitted after the deadline (based on the email receipt date) will not be processed.
Contact Persons and Details:
Shi Tianyu: 010-65299862
Wang Yan: 010-65299866 (or 65299829)
Email: kejibu@cinnet.cn
Attachments:
- Letter of Recommendation
- List of Recommended Projects
China Institute of Navigation
November 13, 2025
