On December 5, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Guidelines for Design Patent Applications Involving Graphical User Interfaces (涉及图形用户界面的产品外观设计专利申请指引). Per CNIPA, “this guide aims to guide innovators to accurately understand the rules governing GUI-related product design by introducing it’s characteristics, application document requirements, and typical cases of GUI-related design, thereby improving the quality of GUI patent application drafting and responses and promoting the high-quality development of the design patent system.”
CNIPA November 2025 Press Conference: More Details on Examination of AI Patents and the Chinese IP Firm Rectification Campaign
On November 28, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) held a press conference that provided more details about the recently revised Guidelines for Patent Examination for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the recently announced Rectification Campaign on IP firms and IP practitioners that includes the Ministry of Public Security. Excerpts follow.
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration, Ministry of Public Security, and State Administration for Market Regulation Jointly Launch Rectification Campaign on IP Firms & Practitioners
On November 25, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration announced a joint rectification campaign in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Security and State Administration for Market Regulation. The campaign will last three months and “seriously illegal agencies and practitioners will be investigated and punished strictly according to law, ordered to rectify irregular practices, and typical cases of illegal agency practices will be publicly exposed to quickly create a deterrent effect.”
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Revised Guidelines for Patent Examination Effective January 1, 2026
On November 13, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Decision of the CNIPA on Revising the Guidelines for Patent Examination (国家知识产权局关于修改《专利审查指南》的决定). The Decision, effective January 1, 2026, revises the Guidelines, which are roughly analogous to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Manual for Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). The revisions clarify the relationship between patent protection and the new plant variety protection; provides examples of rejections based on social, public interest in illegality rationales; provides examples for …