In a decision released by the Intellectual Tribunal of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on July 23, 2021, the SPC explained that a granted utility model patent may be unenforceable when a corresponding invention patent application was rejected during substantive examination. The plaintiff had filed both utility model and invention patent applications on the same day for the same invention. While the utility model granted, the invention patent application was rejected in substantive examination for lacking novelty and inventiveness.
Category: Patents
China’s New Patent Linkage System: A Guide for Foreign Chinese Patent Holders
This article originally appeared in IP Watchdog here. In compliance with the Phase One Trade Agreement, China has implemented a patent linkage system in their amended patent law, which became effective June 1, 2021 (Article 76 of the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (2020)). The Chinese patent linkage system prevents marketing approval of generic drugs until after the expiration of patents covering the drugs or uses. Specifically, the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the National Medical Products Administration …
First Generic Declarations Published on China’s New Patent Linkage System
As of July 13, 2021, four generic declarations have been filed so far on China’s new patent linkage registration system. In compliance with the Phase One Trade Agreement, China implemented a patent linkage system in their amended patent law effective June 1, 2021. The Chinese patent linkage system prevents marketing approval of generic drugs until after the expiration of patents covering the drugs or uses. The 4 declarations are all from Chinese companies for drugs from Western companies including GlaxoSmithKline …
China’s Patent Grants Accelerate By Over 50% in First Half of 2021
In recently released data for the first half of 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) granted 55.9% more invention patents than in the first half of 2020. Utility model patents were up less at 30.3% versus the first half of 2020. The percentage of patents granted to foreign patentees dropped from 19.0% to 15.8% although the absolute number of patents to foreign patentees increased from 41,157 to 53,512. However, this may overstate the total number of patents granted …