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, and was selected as one of the Top Ten Reexamination and Invalidation Cases of 2024 by CNIPA as “a typical patent case in the field of communications involving standards evolution in that its assessment of inventiveness provides guidance for this type of case.”1 Legal & Technical Focus The patent involved is titled “Carrier Aggregation Feedback…
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- China, China Patent Office, CNIPA, Design, Inventiveness, Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Department
Obviousness: can features from different categories of products be combined to invalidate a design patent?
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 of these cases. Today’s article relates to design patents and the standard of what is “distinctly different”. Particularly, this case asks whether two prior art design elements can be combined to invalidate the novelty of a design if the two prior art features come from different categories of products. The Chinese patent law states: “A…
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NMPA’s Releases Draft Measures for Data Protection (Data Exclusivity)
In March 2025, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) released yet another set of draft implementation measures on data protection.1 Key highlights of these new measures include the following: A Bit of History China’s journey toward a comprehensive pharmaceutical data protection framework has been ongoing for over two decades, a roller coaster ride from its initial commitments upon joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) to its most recent draft regulations. WTO Accession (2001) and Early Provisions (2002) When China joined the WTO in 2001, it signed the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In line with its WTO obligations, China incorporated data exclusivity into its domestic law…
