In China’s shift from quantity to quality, 25.5% fewer utility models were granted in 2023 versus 2022. Design patent grants were also down 11.5% according to a January 16, 2024 press conference held by the State Council Information Office. In contrast, invention patent grants were up 15.4%. Invention patent applications are substantively examined while utility models and designs only undergo a preliminary examination. 2024 may show a continuing downward trend for utility models as the amended Patent Examination Guidelines, effective …
Category: Patents
China’s Supreme People’s Court Sets Low FRAND Rate in Another OPPO Case
Fresh off OPPO’s victory at the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in a global Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) standard essential patent (SEP) rate setting case, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of China set a low rate in another case for six Chinese SEPs 99813601.8、00815854.1、99813602.6、99813640.9、01803954.5 and 99813641.7 related to the Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband (AMR-WB) standard. The SPC ordered OPPO to pay Advanced Codec Technologies LLC (ACT) 15,390,527 RMB (~$2.165 million USD) or $0.008 per unit, with an average licensing …
Translation of China’s Amended Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law
On December 21, 2023, China’s State Council released the Amended Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law (国务院关于修改《中华人民共和国专利法实施细则》的决定). The Implementing Regulations explain how several provisions of China’s amended Patent Law of 2021 will be implemented. The Regulations become effective January 20, 2024. A translation of the Regulations, courtesy of Jerry Xia at Gen Law, follows.
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Third Batch of Guiding Cases for Administrative Protection of IP
On December 27, 2023, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Third Batch of Guiding Cases for Administrative Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (关于发布第三批知识产权行政保护指导案例的通知). Under Article 70 of the Patent Law, “the patent administration department under the State Council may, at the request of the patentee or any interested party, deal with patent infringement disputes that have a major impact throughout the country,” thereby providing an alternative adjudication process to the court system. While not a common law jurisdiction, …