Exciting new changes continue to happen with the Chinese Patent Office (CNIPA). On November 12, 2019, the CNIPA published a new set of amendments to Part II Chapter 9 of the Patent Examination Guidelines (“Draft”) and requested public comment by December 11, 2019. In summary, the new guidelines clarify how emerging technologies involving artificial intelligence, Internet +, big data and blockchain should be examined. More specifically, the Draft provides examination guidelines for inventions comprising certain abstract features such as algorithms, business methods and rules. Examination Criteria Accordingly to the newly amended guidelines in the Draft, when determining patent eligibility, novelty or inventive step (Articles 25, 2, and 22 respectively),…
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China Divisional Practice
China allows the filing of divisional applications but under specific circumstances. Most importantly, divisional applications can usually only be filed voluntarily during the prosecution of the original parent application. Once the parent application is granted or withdrawn, no additional voluntary divisional applications may be filed. However, divisionals can be filed to pursue subject matter not yet pursued due to a unity rejection raised by an examiner in an earlier application at any time regardless of the status of the parent application. Timelines: When Must a Divisional Application Be Filed? A divisional application can be filed : Under What Circumstances can Divisional Applications be Filed? During the pendency of the parent…
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Major and Exciting Changes to China’s Patent Law [Fourth Amendment to China’s Patent Law]
Major changes are on the horizon for China’s Patent Law, which will see an overhaul in many areas as early as this year (2019). On January 4, 2019, the National People’s Congress in China published the latest draft of the Fourth Amendment to China’s Patent Law. Several draft amendments have been released for public comment in the past several years, starting from 2012 to this most recent one in 2019. The period for public comment just closed on February 3, 2019. The goal is to implement this amendment in 2019. As a whole, these proposed changes address a lot of the criticisms people have had regarding the strength of IP…
