On  January 4, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced it had revoked 4 Chinese patent firms’ licenses for filing ‘irregular’ patent applications using fabricated patent applicants based on stolen personal data. The firms in question had purchased stolen personal data from a Xu XX, who had been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in May 2025. Xu XX illegally purchased personal information of enterprises and citizens, and used this information to register accounts in the CNIPA’s patent business processing system for resale and profit.  Presumably, the firms in question were seeking government subsidies for filing these irregular patent applications.  Approximately 10% of Chinese patent applications in 2024 were irregular.

A translation of one of the decisions follows. The original decision can be found here (Chinese only). The other three decisions are similar and can be found here, here and here (Chinese only).

Administrative Penalty Decision of the State Intellectual Property Office (Anhui XX Patent Agency (General Partnership))

Name of the party: Anhui XX Patent Agency (General Partnership)

Unified Social Credit Code: XX

General Partner: Zhou *tao

Partners: Zhou*tao, Wu*rui

Address: XX Hefei City, Anhui Province

In May 2025 , the Kelan County People’s Court of Shanxi Province sentenced Xu, an individual, to three years and six months in prison for the crime of infringing on citizens’ personal information. During the handling of the case, it was found that Xu illegally purchased personal information of enterprises and citizens, and used this information to register accounts in the CNIPA’s patent business processing system for resale and profit. Based on this lead, the CNIPA, while further verifying the relevant patent applications of the companies involved, discovered that the parties involved, on behalf of intermediary agencies that purchased illegal information from Xu, submitted 107 patent applications using fabricated patent applicants based on the information in question.

An investigation revealed that Zhang XX, the partner who applied for the patent agency license in 2022 , and Zhou XX, the current executive partner, did not work full-time for the company; they merely registered their patent attorney qualifications with the company. Furthermore, patent attorney Wang XX did not practice full-time for the company and did not draft or review any patent applications filed in his name, severely harming the interests of the client. Between July 2022 and June 2025, 53 patent applications filed in the names of the aforementioned individuals were preliminarily identified as irregular patent applications and subsequently withdrawn.

On December 16, 2025, our bureau served the party concerned with the “Notice of Administrative Penalty from the CNIPA” (国知处函运字 [ 2025 ] No. 54 ), informing the party concerned of the facts, reasons, basis, and content of the proposed administrative penalty and the proposed inclusion in the list of serious violations of market supervision and management, and informing the party concerned of their rights. After receiving the notice, the party concerned did not submit any statements or defenses within the statutory time limit, nor did they request a hearing.

The above facts are mainly proven by the following evidence:

1. A copy of the party’s business license and a copy of the legal representative’s ID card.

2. List of patent applications related to the case involving Xu XX.

3. Interrogation Record of Anhui Provincial Market Supervision Administration

4. A list of patent applications that were initially deemed abnormal and subsequently withdrawn, signed by the patent attorney registered with the party concerned.

In summary, our bureau believes that the party involved has seriously disrupted industry order by renting out its patent agency practice license and submitting patent applications on behalf of others using information illegally sold by the criminal Xu; the party involved has fraudulently obtained a patent agency practice license by using the qualifications of another person’s patent attorney; the party involved has violated the regulations on patent attorney practice registration by fabricating a patent attorney’s practice in its agency through “certificate hanging” and assigning a patent attorney to handle entrusted matters on the relevant “Patent Agency Authorization Letter,” but the patent attorney listed on the letter is a person who is merely using the certificate and has not actually participated in the drafting or review of the relevant patent applications, seriously harming the interests of the client. The above-mentioned actions of the party involved fall under the illegal circumstances listed in Article 51, Paragraph (8) and Paragraph (9) of the “Patent Agency Management Measures,” and constitute the illegal act of “negligence in management causing serious consequences” as stipulated in Article 25, Paragraph 1, Item (5) of the “Patent Agency Regulations,” and multiple illegal circumstances coexist, indicating a serious situation.

In accordance with Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the Patent Agency Regulations, and taking into account the facts, nature, and circumstances of the party’s illegal conduct, the following penalty is hereby imposed:

The patent agency practice license of Anhui XX Patent Agency (General Partnership) has been revoked .

The aforementioned conduct of the party concerned falls under Article 9, Paragraph (2) of the “Administrative Measures for the Management of Seriously Illegal and Dishonest Lists of Market Supervision and Management,” which stipulates “engaging in seriously illegal patent and trademark agency activities.” In accordance with the relevant provisions of Articles 2 and 12 of the same measures, it has been decided to include the party concerned in the list of seriously illegal and dishonest lists of market supervision and management, publicize this information through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, and implement corresponding management measures. The inclusion period is from December 26 , 2025 to December 25 , 2028. After one year, the party concerned may apply to our bureau for early removal from the list of seriously illegal and dishonest lists, cessation of publicizing relevant information, and lifting of corresponding management measures, in accordance with Articles 16 and 17 of the same measures.

The party concerned shall, within 30 days of receiving the penalty decision, notify the client to terminate the agency contract, properly handle any outstanding business, and apply to our bureau for the cancellation of the patent agency practice license. If the party concerned disagrees with this decision, they may apply for administrative reconsideration to the CNIPA within 60 days of receiving this decision, or file an administrative lawsuit with a competent people’s court within 6 months of receiving this decision. During the reconsideration and litigation periods, the above decision shall not be suspended.

CNIPA

December 26, 2025