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Breaking News: Newest Draft Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law Available for Public Comment

10 July 2020
Finally, after more than a year since the last draft amendment came out in 2019, a new draft has been submitted to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee for deliberation on June 28, 2020. The newest version is now published for public comments until August 16, 2020. As a whole, these proposed changes address a […]

Narrow Claim Scope of a Chinese Utility Model Patent Fuels Design-Arounds by Failing to Curb Competing Products:

28 October 2020
Learning from a 2019 China’s Top 50 Representative IP Case The number of patent applications in China is now the highest in the world, with more than half the applications filed as utility model applications (UMs). For example, there were more than 2 million UMs filed in 2018 alone (for the difference between a utility […]

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 […]

Breaking News: China passes Fourth Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law

19 October 2020
After 12 years, the Fourth Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law has passed and will be in effect on 1 Jun 2021. After years of multiple draft amendments that moved in various directions, we FINALLY have some clarity on what patent protection is going to look like in China in the coming future. Many of […]
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