The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will be closed from February 4, 2019 to February 10, 2019 for the Chinese New Year holiday. All official deadlines falling on the above dates will automatically be extended to February 11, 2019. Accordingly, please instruct your Chinese counsel in advance to ensure timely handling of matters due during this period.
Chinese New Year is a Chinese festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese calendar (Lunar calendar). The festival is usually referred to as the Spring Festival. The festival was traditionally a time to honor deities as well as ancestors. The evening preceding Chinese New Year’s Day, called Chuxi (除夕), is frequently regarded as an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly clean their house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for incoming good luck. Another custom is the decoration of windows and doors with red paper-cuts and couplets. Popular themes among these paper-cuts and couplets include that of good fortune or happiness, wealth, and longevity. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes.
