On 29 November 2011, commissioner of State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Mr. Tian Lipu and president of European Patent Office (EPO) Mr. Benoit Battistelli signed a landmark agreement in Chongqing that brings in Chinese-English machine translation for patents, thereby removing language as a barrier in public access to patent information.
        According to the agreement, both offices will work together to assure that by the end of 2012 automatic Chinese-English machine translation tools for patents are available to the public. The service will be free of charge and easily accessible through Internet.
        The new move is expected to help innovators better adjust their R&D and investment strategies, enhance the efficiency of dissemination of information on new technologies disclosed in both regions, and improve the quality of the patent granting process with better consideration of the Chinese prior art.