China

IP Update: China’s Supreme People’s Court Issues First Public Decision Defining China’s Inventorship Standard

1 June 2026

In theory China's inventorship standard is similar to others around the world. An inventor is anyone who "makes creative contributions to the substantive features" of an invention. But what does this mean, and how does one apply this standard? Up to this point, this issue hasn't really been litigated much in China (at least according […]

Breaking: China Released Drug Trial Data Protection Implementation Measures

22 May 2026

On May 15, 2026, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) officially announced the final Measures for the Implementation of Drug Trial Data Protection (“Measures”), effective May 15, 2026. These Measures provide important details supporting the recently announced Implementing Regulations of the Drug Administration Law (“Regulations” – also effective May 15, 2026), which formally introduced a […]

A Stratification Too Far? How the CNIPA Draws the Line on Patient Subgroups in a Recent Precision Medicine Invalidation Case

27 February 2026

Precision medicine is rapidly transforming the global healthcare landscape, providing more effective therapies and better patient outcomes through targeted solutions. As therapeutics move away from the traditional “one-size-fits-all” model, unique challenges are presented in the patent examination process. The 2024 Top 10 Patent Re-examination and Invalidation case highlighted below provides further insight into how the […]

What Microsoft’s Recent Patent Invalidation Case in China Teaches Us About User Interface Patents

29 January 2026

Each year the CNIPA publishes its Top Ten Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Cases for the previous year. These cases are meant to be guiding cases, showcasing exemplary real-world decisions that clarify certain aspects of the law. Today we’ll be sharing about one of the Top 10 Invalidation Cases in 2024 involving Microsoft (China) Co., Ltd. […]

Beijing Supreme People’s Court Upholds Novo Nordisk Semaglutide Patent in China based on Post-Filing Data

23 January 2026

On December 31, 2025, The Supreme People's Court upheld the Beijing IP Court's decision, meaning that the semaglutide patent remains valid and will expire on March 20, 2026. Novo Nordisk announced this positive news via a press release on the day the case was decided. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has also confirmed this decision […]

Thin Disclosure but "Bulletproof" Protection: How a Salt Form Patent was Upheld in China Despite Minimal Data

8 January 2026

In China, innovative drug companies typically rely on their initial composition of matter patents to block out competitors. Other “follow-on” IP, such as those directed towards formulations, polymorphs, and salt forms, are often regarded as less likely to survive invalidation challenges, especially in China where the standard of “person skilled in the art” is so […]

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 […]

From Faces to Football Fields: How Applying AI Models to Different Application Fields Can Prove Inventive in China

21 October 2025

As AI models become versatile and adaptable across multiple contexts and industries, questions about inventive step sit at the heart of patent examination in China. The 2023 Patent Examination Guidelines (hereinafter referred to as 'the Guidelines') included several sessions dedicated to explaining how inventive step should be examined for AI-related inventions, featuring examples related to […]

When Standards Evolve: How China Judges Inventiveness in Next-Gen Tech Patents

30 September 2025

Starting in 2023, Datang Mobile, one of the key players in China’s telecom standardization efforts, initiated infringement proceedings against Samsung in China, Germany, and the US. Samsung responded by filing multiple invalidation petitions in several jurisdictions, including China, the United States, and Europe. The case discussed below is one of above-mentioned invalidation cases in China, […]

Obviousness: can features from different categories of products be combined to invalidate a design patent?

18 September 2025

Introduction “I have a tank, I have a gun—boom! Tank gun?” Each year the CNIPA releases a list of Top Ten Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Cases. These cases are meant to be guiding cases, showcasing exemplary real-world decisions that clarify certain aspects of the law. Over the next several months we will be highlighting many […]

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