The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will close from February 11, 2021 to February 17, 2021 for the Chinese New Year holiday. All official deadlines falling on the above dates will automatically be extended to February 18, 2021. Note February 7, 2021, Sunday and February 20, 2021, Saturday will be working days in China. Patent deadlines that fall due on these weekend dates will be postponed to the following Monday. However, trademark deadlines are not postponed.
Casio Awarded 8.8 Million RMB in Chinese Design Patent Infringement Case for Watches
Per a Court announcement, on January 28, 2021 the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff Casio Computer Co., Ltd. against the defendants Tornado Company (旋风公司), Smael Company (斯麦尔公司), Weishi Company (威时公司), and Huaxin Products Factory (华鑫制品厂) in a design patent infringement case. The Court awarded 8.8 Million RMB ($1.369 million USD) in damages and expenses as well as an injunction, as is common in China.
Chinese Utility Model Patent Grants Up 50% in 2020, PCT Filings Up Over 18%
On January 28, 2021 the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released detailed 2020 Chinese intellectual property statistics but, contrary to prior practice, failed to released patent application filing data for the December 2020 period or the 2020 calendar year as a whole. November 2020 data showed an almost 33% jump in invention patent application filings month-on-month and cumulative invention patent applications filings in 2020 had already exceeded 2019’s total filings. Most notable though in the released data was a …
China to Cancel All Patent Subsidies
On January 27, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced in the “Notice of the CNIPA on Further Strictly Regulating Patent Application Behavior” (国家知识产权局关于进一步严格规范专利申请行为的通知) the end of all patent subsidies by 2025. Subsidies for patent application filings and other stages of the patent prosecution process (e.g., requesting exam) will end by June 30, 2021. Only subsidies for granting of patents (including foreign patents) are allowed for now but local governments must cancel them by 2025. The timing of …