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China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Third Batch of Guiding Cases for Administrative Protection of IP

On December 27, 2023, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Third Batch of Guiding Cases for Administrative Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (关于发布第三批知识产权行政保护指导案例的通知). Under Article 70 of the Patent Law, “the patent administration department under the State Council may, at the request of the patentee or any interested party, deal with patent infringement disputes that have a major impact throughout the country,” thereby providing an alternative adjudication process to the court system. While not a common law jurisdiction, …

China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Guidelines on Subject Matter Eligibility of Utility Model Patents

On November 2, 2023, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration released the Guidelines on Subject Matter Eligibility of Utility Model Patents (关于实用新型专利保护客体判断的指引). Utility model patents (UMs) are one of the three types of patents in China, the others being design and invention (similar to U.S. utility patents). UMs do not undergo substantive examination and therefore tend to grant quickly. However, the subject matter of UMs is limited to the “shape, structure or combination of a product that is suitable for practical …

Hangzhou Issues “Implementation Rules of Hangzhou Municipal Intellectual Property Special Fund Allocation Factors” To Subsidize Foreign IP Litigation

On October 27, 2023, the Hangzhou Municipal Administration for Market Regulation issued the “Implementation Rules of Hangzhou Municipal Intellectual Property Special Fund Allocation Factors.” The Rules are effective immediately and provide funding for domestic and foreign IP litigation, IP financing, whistleblower rewards for reporting IP violations, monetary rewards for winning national and provincial patent medals, etc.

China’s Cyberspace Administration Proposes Loosening Restrictions on Cross-Border Data Flows

On September 28, 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China proposed relaxing restrictions on cross-border data flows in the Regulations to Standardize and Promote Cross-Border Data Flows (Draft for Comment) (规范和促进数据跨境流动规定（征求意见稿)). According to the Draft Regulations, sending some Chinese data abroad will no longer require a data export security assessment. However, some terms in the Draft lack clarity.