Post-filing data can sometimes be the crucial difference between a patent allowance and a final rejection. The reasons are endless why important data may not have been included in the original patent application as filed. Time and budget may have been insufficient to generate data over the full scope of the claims at the time of filing. The priority of a company’s business may have changed, meaning now more resources are available to generate data in this new area. Whatever the reason, patent practitioners often rely on data generated after the filing of the original application in order to overcome rejections from the patent office. Traditionally, China has been known…
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China Provides Specific Directions to Strengthen Patent / Technology Protection from 2020 to 2021
China continues to progress towards its major goal of significantly strengthening IP protection within its borders. Last year it announced several proposed amendments to its patent laws. In January 2020 China and the US signed the Economic and Trade Agreement between the Government of China and US (published 16 January 2020 –“Trade Agreement”), which detailed several areas in which China agreed to reform its laws, including in the areas of trade secrets and confidential information, pharmaceutical-related IP, piracy and counterfeiting, and enforcement. Just a few days ago on April 20th, 2020, the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published a long and comprehensive plan (“Plan”) on how to strengthen the…
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Diagnostic Claims in China
The Chinese Patent Law excludes patenting methods of diagnosing or treating a disease. More specifically, this refers to processes of identifying, determining, or eliminating the cause or focus of diseases which are practiced directly on living human or animal bodies. Please keep in mind that instruments used for implementing these methods are still patentable. So what constitutes a diagnostic method that would be excluded from patent protection? It must meet the following two criteria: It is practiced on a living human or animal body Its immediate purpose is to obtain the diagnostic result of a disease or health condition Living Human or Animal Body This first requirement means that, for…
