Our Insights & Updates
We give talks and write regularly about patent law, especially cases and changes in the law that we find interesting.
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Do Promotional Marketing Materials Constitute an “Offer for Sale” under Chinese Patent Law? Bayer IP GmbH v. Nanjing Hang Seng Pharmaceutical
12 December 2023Bayer'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 […]
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First ever Invalidation decision on an RNAi Invention patent in China
4 December 2023Decision on Examination of Request for Invalidation (No. 58530) In one of China’s Top 10 Patent Re-examination / Invalidation cases of 2022, an invalidation decision on a patent claiming Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) RNAi compositions (No. 58530) by the Patent Re-examination Board (the “Board”) sheds light on the standard for post filing data for rejections […]
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Inventive Step for an Enantiomer over a Racemate: “L-ornidazole” Patent Invalidation Case
27 November 2023Each year, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issues its annual “Judgment Digests”, which includes a list of “48 typical cases” highlighting representative SPC decisions in the previous year. The Judgment Digests help us understand more about the SPC’s judicial ideology, trial concepts, and adjudication methods in dealing with difficult and sophisticated legal issues as well […]
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Announcement: Implementation Regulations (Rules) of the Chinese Patent Law have been Approved
10 November 2023On 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 […]
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CNIPA further clarifies how it counts “delays” when calculating Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) in the new Draft Examination Guidelines and how it affects international applicants
12 April 2023At the end of October 2022, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released a new draft amendment of the Patent Examination Guidelines[1] (hereinafter referred to as the “New Draft”) to the new Chinese Patent Law that came into effect in 2021. We highlight two key amendments below. 1. The starting date for calculating PTA […]
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Foreigners Beware: China Proposes Requiring IP Made Using Exported Chinese Genetic Resources to be Co-Owned by Chinese Collaborators
22 March 2023Proposed Examination Guidelines for the New Chinese Patent Law – Topic 2: Genetic Resource Restriction How Will the Tightened Genetic Resource Restrictions Affect Your IP In 2019-2021, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (“MOST”, or the Science Ministry) established several laws and regulations with respect to biosafety[1] and human genetic resources management[2] (collectively referred as […]
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First Ever Successful Invalidation Challenge Due to Unauthorized Foreign Filing
8 March 2023What does an invention “completed” in China mean? China and the US are similar in that both countries highly value national security, and thus have rules regulating the exportation of technology and information from within their borders. This includes new inventions that arise from within their respective borders. As such, both governments require inventors who […]
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Introducing the New USPTO Cancer Moonshot Expedited Examination Pilot Program
10 January 2023Starting from February 1, 2023, the USPTO will begin the new Cancer Moonshot Expedited Examination Pilot Program that advances out-of-turn applications that are directed to oncology or smoking cessation. This new program will replace the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program that has been in place since 2016, and covers more technologies than only cancer immunotherapies. Applications […]
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FOLLOW UP: Amendments to the China Patent Examination Guidelines in 2022 – Part 1: New rules for designs in view of China signing onto the Hague Agreement
4 January 2023Since the publication of our earlier article about China signing onto the Hague Agreement, some of our Hong Kong clients have expressed interest in taking advantage of the Hague international design application system, i.e., filing a Hague international design application with the CNIPA (Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration) as a receiving office (RO). Up until […]
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BREAKING NEWS: New Pilot Program for Hong Kong Applicants to get Accelerated Patent Examination in the Chinese Patent Office Starting January 1, 2023
4 January 2023New year, new resolutions! The CNIPA has recently announced a pilot program that provides Hong Kong applicants the opportunity to expedite their patent applications filed in China. Starting 1 Jan 2023, Hong Kong permanent residents and entities legally registered in Hong Kong can request prioritized examination for their invention patent applications before the CNIPA. To […]
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Chinese Courts Cares More About Patent Quality Now (A Doctrine of Equivalents Story)
13 December 2022There is no doubt that the drafting quality of a patent can be crucial in determining the success (or failure!) of the patent during litigation. However, due to various reasons, patents often fail to use the right drafting strategies that best protect the invention. Too often, inexperienced or unsophisticated patent drafters merely listen to an […]
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Amendments to the China Patent Examination Guidelines in 2022 - Part 1: New rules for designs in view of China signing onto the Hague Agreement
2 December 2022This year, China stepped further onto the international scene by signing on as a member of the Hague Agreement. The Hague Agreement is an international registration system allowing applicants to file a single international design application in a single language to obtain protection in over 100 designated member countries. The US has been a member […]
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