China

Diagnostic Claims in China

9 January 2020
The Chinese Patent Law excludes patenting methods of diagnosing or treating a disease. More specifically, this refers to processes of identifying, determining, or eliminating the cause or focus of diseases which are practiced directly on living human or animal bodies. Please keep in mind that instruments used for implementing these methods are still patentable. So […]

AI, Big Data, and Blockchain - CNIPA seeks public comment on draft patent examination guidelines

21 November 2019
Exciting new changes continue to happen with the Chinese Patent Office (CNIPA). On November 12, 2019, the CNIPA published a new set of amendments to Part II Chapter 9 of the Patent Examination Guidelines (“Draft”) and requested public comment by December 11, 2019. In summary, the new guidelines clarify how emerging technologies involving artificial intelligence, […]

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 Once the parent application is granted or withdrawn, no additional voluntary divisional applications may be filed.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 […]

Major and Exciting Changes to China’s Patent Law [Fourth Amendment to China's Patent Law]

20 February 2019
Major changes are on the horizon for China’s Patent Law, which will see an overhaul in many areas as early as this year (2019). On January 4, 2019, the National People’s Congress in China published the latest draft of the Fourth Amendment to China’s Patent Law. Several draft amendments have been released for public comment […]

Finally a unified “Court of Appeal” for technology IP in China

22 January 2019
On October 26, 2018, China’s Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) received approval to establish a specialized intellectual property court within the SPC to handle appeal cases involving technology-related IP for both civil (e.g., patent infringement) and administrative (e.g., patent invalidity) judgments. Technology-related IP includes invention patents, utility models, new plant species, IC design, trade secret, software, […]

Markush claims in China - what can be arbitrarily deleted during invalidation?

4 December 2018
Since 2010, the China Patent Re-examination Board (PRB) has published the top 10 patent invalidation cases of the year in April of each year. The selection criteria are high social concern, significant impact on the related industry, or involve difficult legal issues and important examination criteria. Below is one of the top 10 cases that […]

No % homology? How to craft allowable claim scope around sequences to comply with China’s strict written description requirements

23 November 2018
Since 2010, the Patent Re-examination Board (PRB) has published the top 10 patent invalidation cases of the year in April of each year. The selection criteria are high social concern, significant impact on the related industry, or involve difficult legal issues and important examination criteria. Below is one of the top 10 cases that discusses […]

Can Post Filing Data Overcome Inventive Step in China?

19 November 2018
Since 2010, the Patent Re-examination Board (PRB) has published the top 10 patent invalidation cases of the year in April of each year. The selection criteria are high social concern, significant impact on the related industry, or involve difficult legal issues and important examination criteria. Below is one of the top 10 cases that discusses […]

Is it Sufficient to Claim an Antibody only by Describing its Antigen?

12 November 2018
Things may be brewing with respect to antibody inventions. Just how much description is sufficient? After losing in the Federal Circuit, Amgen has decided to ask the US Supreme Court to weigh in on a standard that could vastly influence the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. The story relates to Repatha™, an LDL-lowering drug from Amgen […]

New Policies to Promote Importation of Innovative Drugs

8 November 2018
At the April 12, 2018 executive meeting of the State Council in China, Premier Mr. Li Keqiang indicated the government’s desire to increase China’s access to innovative drugs. To achieve this, the government would encourage importation of innovative drugs into China by streamlining the regulatory pathway, enhancing IP protection, and lowering the cost of medicine. […]
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