ChinaChina Patent OfficeCNIPAPatent LawUpdates and Changes
10 November 2023

Announcement: Implementation Regulations (Rules) of the Chinese Patent Law have been Approved

by
Ms. Yolanda Wang
Ms. Jennifer Che

On November 3rd, 2023, the Premier of the State Council, Li Qiang, chaired a regular meeting where the "Implementation Regulations of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised Draft)" was reviewed and approved. This is great news, as we have been waiting quite some time for these Regulations (Rules) to be approved (see our previous article summarizing the draft Implementation Rules). Considering the 4th Amendment of the new Chinese Patent Law was passed in October 2020, we have certainly been waiting a long time for more details about how this law will be implemented.

This document is not publicly available yet. However, the announcement provides a summary of key highlights:

Key Highlights:

  • China will continue to enhance protection of IP rights, with a goal of further refining the patent application and examination systems to improve China’s standards in patent innovation, application, protection, management, and related services.
  • China will continue efforts to strengthen alignment with relevant international treaties.
  • The Regulations affirm that the patent law plays a pivotal role in promoting technological innovation and the development of new industries and markets.
  • China will initiate multiple forms of public awareness campaigns on IP Rights to foster a legal environment that supports and safeguards innovation.

These high level statements reflect China’s overarching goals for strengthening both IP protection as well as public awareness of IP protection in China. We look forward to seeing the details of the Regulations.

As always, we keep an eye out for updates such as these and will inform you as soon as more details come out. 

Other Articles

How a Secondhand Ground Brush Wiped Away a Chinese Patent

4 December 2024
A Chinese robot vacuum company digs up “hidden evidence” to successfully invalidate a patent owned by its biggest competitor.  Highlights Background  With the growth of online shopping, it is easier than ever to provide evidence of a sale when the product is still being sold on the market. But what if the product is no […]

The Secret Prior Art Trap: A Case Study on Conflicting Applications in China

13 November 2025
In patent prosecution, the concept of a "conflicting application" or “secret prior art” plays a critical role in determining the patentability of an invention. This article explores the framework for assessing conflicting applications under Chinese patent law, with a comparative perspective on the approaches adopted in the United States. Case Background: The Image Encoding Dispute […]

China Divisional Practice

17 June 2019
China allows the filing of divisional applications but under specific circumstances. Most importantly, divisional applications can usually only be filed voluntarily during the prosecution of the original parent application. Once the parent application is granted or withdrawn, no additional voluntary divisional applications may be filed. However, divisionals can be filed to pursue subject matter not […]

Do Promotional Marketing Materials Constitute an “Offer for Sale” under Chinese Patent Law? Bayer IP GmbH v. Nanjing Hang Seng Pharmaceutical

12 December 2023
Bayer's blockbuster drug Rivaroxaban has seen its share of patent litigations in China, several of which are big enough to be listed as Top 10 IP cases or 50 Representative IP cases. We summarized an invalidation case back in 2020 where all of Bayer’s claims directed towards the compound were upheld. Recently, another Rivaroxaban case […]

Our Past Events

Top crossarrow-right