Biotech

Can I transfer priority rights in China without the consent of other applicants? Insights from the Broad Institute’s CRISPR patent

2025年2月4日

The high-profile disputes surrounding an important CRISPR patent belonging to The Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard (hereinafter “the proprietors”) has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, particularly regarding the validity of priority rights that were challenged worldwide. In Europe, the patent was famously revoked by the European Patent Office (hereinafter “EPO”) due to […]

Inventive Step for an Enantiomer over a Racemate: “L-ornidazole” Patent Invalidation Case

2023年11月27日

Each 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 […]

Compositions Limited by Use: A Cautionary Tale

2022年10月26日

Section 4.2.3, Part II Chapter 10 of the CNIPA’s Examination Guidelines (“Guidelines”) stipulates that if the specification only discloses one property or use of a composition, the composition claim shall be drafted as a “composition limited by the function or the use”. Furthermore, it specifically states that “most pharmaceutical claims shall be drafted as claims […]

How the Chinese Patent Office Rejected a Plate-Making Method Based on Food Safety Law

2022年10月19日

Previously we published an article about CNIPA rejecting a patent application claiming a food that could also be used to treat or prevent diseases based on the food’s alleged non-compliance with Food Safety Law. China’s Food Safety Law includes a provision which states any use of a composition as a food must be strictly separated […]

China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) Hands Down First Patent Linkage Appeal Decision

2022年9月21日

China has been implementing a plethora of new laws and measures that are particularly favorable to drug companies, such as patent term extension and patent linkage. Details of the new implementation measures for patent linkage (technically “early dispute resolution mechanisms for drug patents”) came into effect on July 4, 2021. At around the same time, […]

SPC Upholds $2M RMB Award in China’s First Patent Case on a Biological Deposit

2022年7月4日

On 28 Feb 2022, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued its annual “Judgment Digests”, which includes a list of “48 typical cases” highlighting representative SPC decisions in 2021. 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 […]

China Hands Down First Batch of Patent Linkage “Paragraph IV” Litigation Results

2022年6月30日

What Kind of Damage Awards Can You Get in China?

2022年6月16日

Is it worth filing for a patent in China? What kind of damage awards can you get? Pharma companies care more about injunction than damage awards, since it’s quite unlikely that any damage award can compensate for the large amounts of money that may be lost for patent infringement. Chinese courts often issue injunctions in […]

China Releases Draft Implementation Guidelines for the Drug Administration Law

2022年6月2日

The latest draft implementation guidelines for China’s Drug Administration Law (“Guidelines”) are out and open for comment. Previously, the new implementation measures for early dispute resolution mechanisms for drug patents (“Patent Linkage Measures”) came into effect on July 4, 2021. The Guidelines indicate that the final approval of generic chemical drug applications for marketing approval […]

CHINA: How Prohibiting "Illegal" Inventions Runs into Food Safety Law

2021年10月22日

Chinese Patent Law has an interesting provision that specifically prohibits patent protection on “illegal” or “immoral” inventions. What does this mean, exactly? According to Article 5.1 of the Chinese Patent Law, “no patent shall be granted for an invention that contravenes any law or social moral or that is detrimental to public interests.” On its […]

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