China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Third Batch of Guiding Cases for Administrative Protection of IP

Posted on Categories Case, Patents

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, …

China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Amended Patent Examination Guidelines – Introduces Inventiveness Examination of Utility Models

Posted on Categories New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Patents

On December 21, 2023, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Patent Examination Guidelines (专利审查指南) in conjunction with the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law and effective January 20, 2024. The Guidelines are similar to the U.S. Patents & Trademark Office’s Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) by providing guidance on the procedure and examination of Chinese patent applications.  Based on a first reading, one of the major changes outlined in the Guidelines is an introduction of a preliminary …

China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases the 39th Batch of Guiding Cases Covering Intellectual Property Law

Posted on Categories Case, Patents, Trade Secrets, Utility Model

On December 19, 2023, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC, currently geoblocked) released the 39th Batch of Guiding Cases (关于发布第39批指导性案例的通知) covering intellectual property law. While China’s legal system is not a common law system, China nonetheless issues guiding cases “for reference when trying similar cases.”  This batch of Guiding Cases covers invention patents, utility models, trade secrets and other intellectual property matters.

China’s National Intellectual Property Administration to Allow Third-Party Challenges to Pharmaceutical Patent Term Extensions

Posted on Categories New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Patents

On December 21, 2023, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced (关于专利权期限补偿和专利开放许可相关行政复议事项的公告(第560号)) it would allow third parties to challenge the grant of patent term extension (PTE) for Chinese pharmaceutical patents effective January 20, 2024. PTE extends the life of a patent due to a potentially lengthy regulatory review process. Per the recently released Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law PTE is calculated by deducting 5 years from the interval between the date of filing of the patent application and date …