75 articles
Arguments Concerning Technical Motivation in Responses to Inventiveness Objections
In the process of responding to office actions, arguing inventiveness is often a difficult point in convincing examiners, especially with regard to “common gene…
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Revisions to the Examination Rules for "Double Filing on the Same Day" under the Latest Examination Guidelines
"Double filing on the same day" refers to the specific legal act whereby the same applicant files both an invention patent application and a utility model paten…
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Addressing Lack-of-Support Objections in Biochemical Patent Applications: Antibody Sequence Limitations
In the practice of patent validity determination in the biochemical field, Article 26, Paragraph 4 of the Chinese Patent Law (Claims shall be supported by the specificati…
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The Core Impact of Determining the Technical Problem on the Assessment of Inventiveness
When assessing whether an invention is eligible for patent protection, inventiveness constitutes one of the core criteria of assessment, as it directly relates to the rec…
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Protection and Practical Strategies for Bitstream Inventions under the Amended Patent Examination Guidelines
On November 10, 2025, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Decision on Amending the Guidelines for Patent Examination. The documen…
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Summary of Key Revisions to the Guidelines for Patent Examination
On November 10, 2025, the CNIPA issued the Decision of the China National Intellectual Property Administration on Amending the Patent Examination Guidelines. The amended …
Read article ↗The amendments to the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law and the Patent Examination Guidelines regarding procedural aspects
The revisions to the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law of China (2023) and the Patent Examination Guidelines (2023) officially came into effect on Janu…
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A Brief Discussion on the Contribution of Performance Parameter Limitation to Product Claims
The article considers when a performance parameter makes a substantial contribution to a product claim, using polymer and resin-particle examples.
Read article ↗Patent Term Extension for Pharmaceutical Patents in China
The term of invention patents is twenty years, counted from the date of application. The newly revised Patent Law, specifically in the second and third paragrap…
Read article ↗Issues regarding Hong Kong standard patent application and its registration procedure
Hong Kong standard patent is a patent application that is extended and registered in Hong Kong based on a patent application filed in one of Chinese National In…
Experimental Data in Chinese Patent Application Documents
Due to the special nature of technology, the patent application for invention in the field of Chemistry often requires experimental data to demonstrate the bene…
Read article ↗Key Changes to the Assessment of Inventiveness in China
The recently updated Patent Examination Guidelines in 2023 took effect on January 20, 2024. This article aims to outline the key revisions concerning inventiven…
Read article ↗Patent Term Adjustment for Invention Patents in China
In China, the duration of invention patent right is twenty years, counted from the filing date. The second paragraph of Article 42 of the newly revised Patent L…
Read article ↗Examination of Partial Design Applications in China
In the Examination Guidelines revision of December, 2023, the examination of partial design applications has been introduced. Based on this revision, the differ…
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Changes to Reexamination and Invalidation Procedures in China
The China Patent Examination Guidelines has recently undergone the latest revision and was officially implemented on January 20, 2024. This paper will briefly i…
Read article ↗Can particle substances be protected in a Chinese utility model?
Can a utility model application be granted for a technical solution that includes particle substance in the utility model claims? This question actually concern…
Read article ↗Supplementary Experimental Data for Chemical Patent Applications in China
As we all know, in the patent application documents for inventions or utility models, it is necessary to clearly indicate the technical problems to be solved, t…
Read article ↗Applicant and Inventor Information Required for Patent Applications in China
・Types of applicant
Amending a Patent Application When Requesting Reexamination in China
In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Chinese Patent Law, the amendments to the application document made by the petitioner submitting a request for…
Read article ↗Is it necessary to request a foreign filing license before submitting a DAS deposit request?
Digital Access Service for priority documents (Abbr. as DAS hereinafter) is an electronic service established and managed by the International Bureau of the Wor…
The Bolar Exception in a Rivaroxaban Patent Infringement Case
This case is one of the 20 typical cases selected by the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court from the 3468 technical intellectual property and mo…
FAQs on Procedures for Changing Bibliographic Data of PCT International Applications entering the Chinese National Phase
Patent Cooperation Treaty, abbreviated as PCT, which makes a single patent application filed in only one language at an international receiving office regarded …
Overview of the Measures for the Registration of the Pledged Patent Rights in China
The means of debt guarantee stipulated by the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China include guarantee, mortgage, pledge, lien and deposits.
Read article ↗Arguing Inventiveness Without Amending Claims in China
The inventiveness of the invention is well known, which means that as compared with the prior art, the invention has prominent substantive features and represen…
Read article ↗Disclaimer Amendments in Chinese Patent Applications
A "disclaimer amendment," as the name implies, is an amendment that excludes a certain technical feature from a claim and that usually uses a negative technical…
Read article ↗Patent Term Compensation and Early Resolution of Pharmaceutical Patent Disputes
In order to encourage the research and development of new drugs, in the Chinese Patent Law, implemented from June 1, 2021, a patent term compensation mechanism …
Read article ↗Common Problems in Preliminary Examination of Utility Model Applications in China
1. What are involved in the preliminary examination?
Read article ↗A Closer Look at Recording Contracts of Patent Licensing in China
Under Article 12 of the Chinese Patent Law “any entity or individual exploiting the patent of another shall conclude with the patentee a license contract for ex…
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Key Changes to Design Patent Applications in China
1. Modification of the requirements for design application filing documents Regarding the improper generic and abstract name of product for design, it is clearl…
Read article ↗Amendments to substantive examination of the Guidelines for Patent Examination
The amendments to the contents about substantive examination of invention patent application of the Guidelines for Patent Examination focus on the following thr…
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The Original Grant Patent System for Standard Patents in Hong Kong's New Patent System
Hong Kong's new patent system came into effect on December 19, 2019. Prior to this, patents in Hong Kong were divided into two categories: standard patents and …
Read article ↗Amendments to the Patent Examination Guidelines for Inventions Involving Embryonic Stem Cells
1. Background of the Amendments According to some relevant explanations of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and our understanding…
Read article ↗Protecting Trade Secrets: A Cross-Border Case
Our client, a European Company A, is facing a problem. An employee B prior to resigning from Company A and in breach of his employment contract, takes confidential inform…
Read article ↗Key Points of the Amended China Patent Examination Guidelines (2019)
On September 23, 2019, the National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released an amendment to the Patent Examination Guidelines (PEG) and announced that the amended PEG will be effective from November 1, 2019.
Evidence of Common General Knowledge in Patent Litigation
Common general knowledge includes technical information recorded in textbooks, technical dictionaries and manuals.
Read article ↗Evidence and Amendment Rules in Chinese Patent Invalidation Proceedings
An accused infringer often challenges the asserted patent through invalidation proceedings.
Read article ↗Preserving Evidence in Chinese Patent Disputes
Evidence preservation involves asking a legally authorized body to obtain and retain relevant evidence so that its probative value is maintained.
Read article ↗Designs of Component Products in China
A component product refers to a single product combined by a number of components, which is divided into a combined product needless of assembly, an assembled product with only one option of assembly, or an assembled product with more than one option of assembly.
Read article ↗Supplementary Experimental Data in Chinese Substantive Examination
The 2017 amendments to the Guidelines for Patent Examination, particularly those concerning supplementary experimental data in chemistry, have prompted different interpretations.
Read article ↗Patent Evaluation Reports Are Evidence, Not Administrative Decisions
Case number: (2017) Jing Xing Zhong No.
Depositing Biological Material for a Chinese Patent Application
For an application involving biological material filed with SIPO, the material must be deposited with an International Depositary Authority (IDA) no later than the filing date.
Read article ↗Panasonic Awarded RMB 3 Million for Infringement of Its Beauty Apparatus Design Patent
Panasonic obtained the design patent for a beauty apparatus on September 5, 2012, under publication number CN302065954S.
Changes to Examination of Business Method Inventions
The revised Guidelines for Patent Examination took effect on April 1, 2017.
Read article ↗Changes to Examination of Computer-Implemented Inventions
First, the “medium + computer program flow” claim format is permitted.
Read article ↗Supplementary Experimental Data under the Revised Patent Examination Guidelines
The latest revision to the Guidelines changes the treatment of supplementary experimental data.
Read article ↗Changes to Patent Invalidation Proceedings
The revisions address two main aspects of invalidation proceedings: additional ways to amend patent documents, and clearer rules for supplementing invalidation grounds and evidence.
Read article ↗Proceedings for Administrative Remedy in Patent Infringement Disputes
For patent infringement disputes，the administrative remedy is more convenient and takes shorter time comparing with the judicial remedy. If the administrative authority believes the infringe
Read article ↗Remedies for missed deadlines in Hong Kong standard patent registration
Hong Kong's standard patent system provides for a patent to be granted, without substantive examination in Hong Kong, on the basis of a patent granted by a designated patent office. The desi
Read article ↗On the Protection of the Patent Rights in Chinese Exhibitions
An exhibition is an important platform for innovative enterprises to introduce their products to markets and demonstrate their technical strength. Of course, an exhibition may be used by any
Read article ↗Service Inventions in China: Rewards and Remuneration
Under Article 6 of the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China, an invention-creation made in the course of performing an entity’s tasks, or mainly by using that entity’s material and technical resources, is a service invention-creation. “Invention-creation” includes inventions, utility models and designs.
Read article ↗Requirements of Filing a Patent Administrative Lawsuit in China
Patent administrative lawsuits in China can be classified into three categories according to the administrative organs that undertake specific administrative acts: administrative lawsuit tha
Read article ↗Notes on filing PPH request to the SIPO
PPH can be either conventional PPH or PCT-PPH. In the former, the request may be made based on the national work products from an examination department of a prior office.
Read article ↗Notes for the entry of PCT applications in China at different time points
According to "Patent Cooperation Treaty Yearly Review" released by WIPO in 2014, the SIPO received 69,693 cases of Chinese national phase entries for PCT applications in 2012, ranked No. 3 a
Read article ↗Assessing infringement under the doctrine of equivalents: a nickel-foam patent case
On June 27, 2013, the Jiangsu High People’s Court issued its final judgment in a patent infringement dispute concerning nickel foam. During the first-instance, appellate and retrial proceedi
Read article ↗An introduction to the patent systems of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico
Latin America is attracting increasing attention from investors. Among its 34 countries and territories, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are of particular interest to foreign companies. As businesses foc
Read article ↗Interviews during patent examination in China
The Chinese Patent Law contains no specific provision on interviews with examiners. The Guidelines for Patent Examination provide that an examiner may invite an applicant to an interview where this wo
Read article ↗Technical features defined by function
A product invention is usually defined by structural or parameter features, while a process invention is usually defined by process steps. If those forms cannot accurately define a technical feature o
Read article ↗Third-party observations on Chinese patent applications
If another company's patent application threatens our products, one way to challenge its grant is to submit third-party observations (TPO). This procedure supports patent examination by allowing a thi
Read article ↗Design protection in China, the European Union and the United States
This comparison describes the systems in early 2014. China receives the world's largest volume of design applications and protects industrial designs within its Patent Law, in line with its industrial
Read article ↗A comparison of design protection in China and Japan
This comparison describes the systems in early 2014. China, the country with the largest volume of design applications, protects designs within the framework of its Patent Law, alongside inventions an
Read article ↗A comparison of design protection in China and South Korea
This comparison describes the systems in early 2014. China protects designs, inventions and utility models under one statute, the Patent Law. This article introduces China's design system and compares
Read article ↗Calculating patent annuities in China: comparison with Japan
When calculating annuities for a client’s quotation, take care to use the correct starting point for each patent year. In China, years are counted from the filing date. In Japan, the first fee year begins with registration. The following example illustrates the difference; the appendix sets out the Chinese and Japanese fee schedules used in this article.
Read article ↗Alternative protection routes for product designs in China
Designs are protected under China’s Patent Law. Article 2 defines a design as a new design of the shape, pattern, or their combination, or the combination of colour with shape and pattern, of a product that creates an aesthetic effect and is suitable for industrial application. A design granted a Chinese patent is protected by the Patent Law.
Read article ↗The doctrine of equivalents in Chinese patent infringement analysis
Patent protection is determined by the claims. Literal infringement occurs when the alleged product or process contains each and every claimed technical feature identically. If one or more features are not literally identical but are equivalent to the corresponding claimed features, infringement may also arise under the doctrine of equivalents.
Read article ↗Confidentiality examination before filing a patent application outside China
The third revision of China’s Patent Law, which took effect on October 1, 2009, introduced confidentiality examination for an invention or utility model developed in China before a patent application is filed abroad. Such an application may be filed abroad only after compliance with the confidentiality-examination requirements. Breaching the requirement can prevent a corresponding Chinese application from being granted; a granted patent may also be invalidated on that ground. An invention or utility model developed in China is one whose substantive technical content was developed within China.
Read article ↗Determining whether an invention or utility model was developed in China
Rule 8 of the Implementing Regulations explains the confidentiality-examination requirement in Article 20 of China’s Patent Law. An invention or utility model developed in China is one whose substantive technical content was developed within China. For this purpose, the original article refers to the territory within mainland China’s customs boundary, excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Read article ↗Deleting a technical feature: assessing added matter through a case study
After filing an invention application, an applicant has several opportunities to amend the application on their own initiative, e.g., when a request for substantive examination is made or within three months after the application enters substantive examination, or when a PCT application enters the national phase or when a divisional application is filed. Generally, compared with amendments made in response to an office action, the amendments on one’s own initiative have fewer restrictions. For example, the applicant may amend or remove a technical feature within the content of the application as filed to expand the scope of the protection, or add a new dependent claim, etc., as long as the amendments to the application document of the invention or utility model do not go beyond the scope of disclosure contained in the initial description and claims.
Read article ↗Pledges over patent rights in China
Chinese law generally adopts a “contract plus publicity” model, through delivery or registration, for creating security rights. A contract to pledge patent rights is therefore an important requirement for creating a patent pledge.
Read article ↗Post-grant procedures for standard patents in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s patent system in 2013 provides standard patents and short-term patents. The Patents Registry of the Intellectual Property Department handles registration. Although the Patents Ordinance sets requirements such as novelty and inventive step, the Department examines formalities rather than conducting substantive examination of those requirements before grant.
Read article ↗Obtaining Chinese patent prosecution files online
The European, US and Japanese patent offices provide online access to prosecution files. SIPO launched the Chinese version of the China Patent Inquiry System (CPQUERY) on April 27, 2012, providing access to some file documents, such as office actions. The English interface followed on November 29, 2012. This article introduces the basic search method using that interface.
Read article ↗The proposed fourth amendment to China’s Patent Law: changes and comments
China has both administrative and judicial routes for addressing patent and trademark infringement. The proposed changes discussed here place particular emphasis on the powers of administrative authorities.
Read article ↗Points to consider when filing a design application in China
In China, SIPO grants design patents after preliminary examination, without substantive examination. This may leave the resulting rights vulnerable and has been accompanied by increasing invalidation proceedings and litigation. Drawing on the Patent Law, the examination guidelines and our practice, this article discusses points to consider when filing, with a view to effective enforcement.
Read article ↗Responding to office actions alleging lack of support
Examiners previously relied mainly on novelty and inventive step to prevent claims from having an excessively broad scope. Following the third amendment to the Chinese Patent Law, and particularly in 2011, objections that claims were not supported by the description became more frequent. More office actions challenged claims on the ground that their scope was too broad.
Read article ↗Responding to inventive-step objections based on common general knowledge
Part II, Chapter 4 of the Guidelines for Patent Examination provides that inventive step may be assessed by combining different technical teachings disclosed in one or more prior-art documents. Under this principle, examiners often combine at least one reference with common general knowledge to assess the claimed invention.
Read article ↗Assessing design patent infringement
Assessing design patent infringement generally involves two questions: whether the accused product’s design is identical or similar to the patented design, and whether the accused product and the product covered by the patent are of identical or similar types. These are central and difficult issues in judicial practice. This article examines several related points.
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