Two months after the new Chinese Patent law came into effect, the CNIPA has released a new set of Patent Examination Guidelines (proposed version) for public comments on Aug 3, 2021. Here are the explanation of the amendments (Chinese only). Here is the full set of proposed amendments (Chinese only). Briefly, the new amendment focuses on the following points: Updated Design Application System, involving requirements for partial designs and GUI applications, obviousness standard for designs, domestic priority, and other procedural requirements; Newly added provisions about the Patent Cooperation Treaty, including incorporation, priority restoration, addition, correction, etc.; Newly added provisions about Patent Term Extension and Patent Term Adjustment’; Newly added provisions…
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2020 China Top 10 IP Cases: Winners’ Sun is truly a Winner: A Simple Selfie-Stick Utility Model Patent Crushes Infringers in China
Each year The Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court releases a list of top 10 technical intellectual property rights court case decisions. The 2020 list came out a few months ago, and we have been highlighting some of these cases. Today, we will cover a utility model patent infringement case. As one of the three types of patents one can obtain in China (the other two being invention patents and design patents), utility models are popular due to their reduced costs and relative ease of prosecution (no substantive examination). Some might argue that a utility model patent has limited value, having restricted subject matter eligibility, a shorter term,…