China’s Supreme People’s Court Clarifies That Defendant May Be Entitled to Attorney Fees and Expenses in IP Litigation

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

On June 3, 2021 and effective the same day, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued the “Approval of the Supreme People’s Court on the Issue of the Defendant’s Request for Compensation for Reasonable Expenses in Intellectual Property Infringement Lawsuits on the Grounds of the Plaintiff’s Abuse of Rights” (最高人民法院关于知识产权侵权诉讼中被告以原告滥用权利为由请求赔偿合理开支问题的批复). The Approval is in response to a request for instructions from the Shanghai Higher People’s Court for a defendant’s request for compensation and allows for compensation in intellectual property infringement lawsuits …

China Releases Administrative Adjudication Measures for Major Patent Infringement Disputes Effective June 1, 2021

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

On May 28, 2021, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has released the Administrative Adjudication Measures for Major Patent Infringement Disputes (重大专利侵权纠纷行政裁决办法).  Administrative adjudication provides an alternative to litigation that can be much faster and less expensive than civil litigation but doesn’t provide for damages. The Measures set a deadline of 3 months to complete the adjudication from the date of filing.  The Measures go into force June 1, 2021.

China Releases Transition Measures for Amended Patent Law Going Into Effect June 1, 2021

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

On May 25, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the Interim Measures for the Processing of Related Examination Businesses Regarding the Implementation of the Revised Patent Law  (关于施行修改后专利法的相关审查业务处理暂行办法).  As the amended patent law will come into effect on June 1, 2021 and the implementation rules are still being revised, CNIPA issued these Interim Measures that will be effective June 1, 2021.  The Interim Measures cover design patent term, partial design examination, patent term adjustment, patent term extension, …

China’s Center for Drug Evaluation Opens Patent Linkage Registration Platform for Public Testing

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

On May 18, 2021, the Center for Drug Evaluation of China’s National Medical Products Administration has issued the “Notice on the public testing of the patent information registration platform related to the early settlement mechanism of drug patent disputes and other related matters” (关于药品专利纠纷早期解决机制相关专利信息登记平台公开测试等有关事宜的通知) opening up China’s patent linkage registration platform (similar to the FDA’s orange book) for testing through May 31, 2021.  The registration system is available at: https://zldj.cde.org.cn.