China Remains Top Patent Cooperation Treaty Application Filer in 2020

Posted on Categories Patents

In a report by the World Intellectual Property Organization dated March 2, 2021, China remained the top user of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with 68,720 applications for+16.1% year-on-year growth.  Last year (2019), China had 59,193 PCT applications. Other top users of the PCT system were the U.S. (59,230 applications, +3%), Japan (50,520 applications, -4.1%), the Republic of Korea (20,060 applications, +5.2%) and Germany (18,643 applications, -3.7%).

China National IP Administration (CNIPA) Extends Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program with Austria and Germany

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

According to a joint decision of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Austrian Patent Office, the China-Austria Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project will be extended for another five years from March 1, 2021, until February 28, 2026.  The PPH enables accelerated examination of Chinese patent applications based on an allowance of an earlier-examined patent application.  The relevant requirements and procedures for submitting PPH requests in the two offices remain unchanged.  The China-Austria (regional) PPH pilot program …

China Issues Draft “Measures Regarding the Regulation of Patent Applications” to Crack Down on ‘Abnormal’ Patent Applications

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

On February 10, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Measures on Regulating Patent Applications (Draft for Comment) (关于规范申请专利行为的办法(征求意见稿)). The draft defines abnormal (read junk) patent applications, related behaviors and the penalties for these behaviors.  Apparently, CNIPA does not actually want comments because these draft measures were released right before the week-long Chinese New Year holiday and CNIPA is providing a very short period to submit comments – 16 days.   These measures and the concurrent elimination of …

China’s Patent Office Releases Draft Measures for Patent Linkage Administrative Adjudication

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

On February 9, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Administrative Ruling Measures for the Early Resolution Mechanism for Drug Patent Disputes (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) (药品专利纠纷早期解决机制行政裁决办法(征求意见稿)). This follows on the drafts of the Supreme People’s Court Patent Linkage Litigation Regulations and the joint National Medical Products Administration and CNIPA’s Implementing Measures for Drug Patent Dispute Early Resolution Mechanism issued last year. Patent linkage was introduced in Article 76 of China’s amended Patent Law to take …