Inventiveness

A Stratification Too Far? How the CNIPA Draws the Line on Patient Subgroups in a Recent Precision Medicine Invalidation Case

2026年2月27日

Precision medicine is rapidly transforming the global healthcare landscape, providing more effective therapies and better patient outcomes through targeted solutions. As therapeutics move away from the traditional “one-size-fits-all” model, unique challenges are presented in the patent examination process. The 2024 Top 10 Patent Re-examination and Invalidation case highlighted below provides further insight into how the […]

From Faces to Football Fields: How Applying AI Models to Different Application Fields Can Prove Inventive in China

2025年10月21日

As AI models become versatile and adaptable across multiple contexts and industries, questions about inventive step sit at the heart of patent examination in China. The 2023 Patent Examination Guidelines (hereinafter referred to as 'the Guidelines') included several sessions dedicated to explaining how inventive step should be examined for AI-related inventions, featuring examples related to […]

When Standards Evolve: How China Judges Inventiveness in Next-Gen Tech Patents

2025年9月30日

Starting in 2023, Datang Mobile, one of the key players in China’s telecom standardization efforts, initiated infringement proceedings against Samsung in China, Germany, and the US. Samsung responded by filing multiple invalidation petitions in several jurisdictions, including China, the United States, and Europe. The case discussed below is one of above-mentioned invalidation cases in China, […]

Obviousness: can features from different categories of products be combined to invalidate a design patent?

2025年9月18日

Introduction “I have a tank, I have a gun—boom! Tank gun?” Each year the CNIPA releases a list of Top Ten Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Cases. These cases are meant to be guiding cases, showcasing exemplary real-world decisions that clarify certain aspects of the law. Over the next several months we will be highlighting many […]