New year, new resolutions! The CNIPA has recently announced a pilot program that provides Hong Kong applicants the opportunity to expedite their patent applications filed in China. Starting 1 Jan 2023, Hong Kong permanent residents and entities legally registered in Hong Kong can request prioritized examination for their invention patent applications before the CNIPA. To be eligible, the patent application must be: To request a prioritized examination, the applicant will need to submit a request form along with other required documents to the CNIPA at one of the representative offices in Guangdong or Shenzhen, by mail or in person. Of particular note, applicants must submit information about the existing technology…
- Accelerated Patent Examination, China, China Patent Office, CNIPA, Hong Kong, Inventions, Prioritized Examination
- China, Court Cases, Courts, Drafting, Inventions, Patent Law, Patent Re-examination Board, Quality, Supreme People's Court
Chinese Courts Cares More About Patent Quality Now (A Doctrine of Equivalents Story)
There is no doubt that the drafting quality of a patent can be crucial in determining the success (or failure!) of the patent during litigation. However, due to various reasons, patents often fail to use the right drafting strategies that best protect the invention. Too often, inexperienced or unsophisticated patent drafters merely listen to an inventor and literally describe the features of an invention. Worst yet, some inventors try to draft their own application, making the similar mistake of describing an invention too specifically and narrowly, leaving plenty of “design-around” space. Even though a patent may grant, the protection scope for that invention is weak, at best, and may even…
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Amendments to the China Patent Examination Guidelines in 2022 – Part 1: New rules for designs in view of China signing onto the Hague Agreement
This year, China stepped further onto the international scene by signing on as a member of the Hague Agreement. The Hague Agreement is an international registration system allowing applicants to file a single international design application in a single language to obtain protection in over 100 designated member countries. The US has been a member since May 13, 2015. China joined this year. On 5 February 2022[1], the Government of China deposited its instrument of accession to the 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement, being the 68th contracting party to the 1999 Act and 77th member of the Hague Union. This harmonizes certain aspects of China’s design patent law…