prosecution

What is the difference between an Invention Patent and a Utility Model Patent?

13 August 2021
There are two types of patent protection in China. Invention patents (similar to a US utility patent) have a term of 20 years from the date of filing and may be granted for both methods and products. Utility model patents (similar to a petty patent) may be granted in China for technical solutions that relate […]

China’s Newest Examination Guidelines: Inventive Step for Biological / Life Science Inventions (Part III)

30 April 2021
This is Part III of a three-part series summarizing the Examination Guidelines that were released by the CNIPA on January 15, 2021, one year to the date of Phase 1 of the US and China Economic and Trade Agreement. That agreement included specific provisions where China "shall permit pharmaceutical patent applicants to rely on supplemental […]

China’s Newest Examination Guidelines: Post-Filing Supplemental Data for Compounds (Part I)

28 April 2021
Post-filing data in China has been a constant issue for many patent practitioners around the world. Examiners seem to require it often, and yet the rules regarding when it is acceptable have seemed much stricter than other jurisdictions worldwide. In fact, we tried to summarize the latest state of the law in an earlier blog […]

A Detailed Dive into China’s New Patent Term Extension Provisions

11 December 2020
This article is a part of a larger article that highlights the newest draft implementation rules of the new Chinese Patent Law. This particular article takes a detailed dive into the patent term extension/adjustment provisions. One of the biggest and most exciting provisions in the newly amended patent law is patent term extension for delay […]

The Latest on Post-Filing Data in China’s Patent Law

29 April 2020
Post-filing data can sometimes be the crucial difference between a patent allowance and a final rejection. The reasons are endless why important data may not have been included in the original patent application as filed. Time and budget may have been insufficient to generate data over the full scope of the claims at the time […]

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 […]
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