The European Patent Office (EPO) and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) jointly announced on October 20, 2020 that Chinese applicants will be able to select the EPO as International Search Authority (ISA) in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in a 2-year pilot program. Currently, Chinese applicants can only select CNIPA as ISA for their PCT applications. The pilot, which starts on December, 1, 2020, will be limited to a total of 2,500 applications in the first 12 months …
Category: New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation
Top 5 Changes in China’s Newly Amended Patent Law
Per the “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Amending the ‘Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China’” (全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于修改〈中华人民共和国专利法〉的决定), China’s National People’s Congress has decided to amend China’s Patent Law. The amendments will go into effect June 1, 2021. The top five changes include increased patent term and damages, among other changes.
China’s National People’s Congress Approves Amended Patent Law
Per news reports from China’s Legal Daily and Xinhua, the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress completed the revision of the Patent Law on October 17, 2020. The newly amended patent law will come into effect on June 1, 2021. As of writing, the text of the amended patent law has not been released so it is unknown exactly what changes have been made from the most recent draft for comments. However, the reports …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Guiding Opinions on Trial of Civil Cases Involving Intellectual Property Rights of E-commerce Platforms
On September 13, 2020, China’s Supreme People’s Court released the Guiding Opinions on Trial of Civil Cases Involving Intellectual Property Rights of E-commerce Platforms (关于审理涉电子商务平台知识产权民事案件的指导意见). The Opinions may make takedowns of infringing products sold on e-commerce platforms easier and more common. As Mark Cohen, prior U.S. IP Attaché in Beijing and now at Berkeley, stated, the “The Guiding Opinion should further help implement obligations set forth in Section 1 (E) of the Phase 1 Trade Agreement regarding ‘Piracy and Counterfeiting …