Although PTE has been in the Chinese Patent Law since the 4th Amendment of the law came into effect June 1, 2021, we didn’t really know the exact details of how it operated until the Implementation Regulations and Examination Guidelines (“Implementation Regulations”) were finally released in December 2023. New Rules 77-84 in the Implementation Regulations discuss patent term compensation due to regulatory delay (“PTE”). In this article, we consolidate our summary about PTE based on these latest updates. Highlights Patent Term Extension (PTE) Article 42.3 of the Patent Law states that “[i]n order to compensate for the time taken for the review and approval process before the marketing of a…
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Everything you need to know about Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) in China
We previously discussed patent term compensation for patent office delay (‘Patent Term Adjustment’ or ‘PTA’) when such new system was introduced in the Fourth Amendment of the Chinese Patent Law (2020), as well as in the different versions of the Draft Examination Guidelines released in 2021 and 2022. In this article, we consolidate everything you need to know based on the latest updates regarding PTA in the Implementation Regulations and Examination Guidelines, which were just released in late 2023. Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) Article 42.2 of the Patent Law states that “[w]here a patent right for an invention is granted after the expiration of four years from the filing date and after…
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Stay Ahead: Getting a Chinese Patent in Three Months?
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has announced a significant development in the realm of patent prosecution: the initiation of the “PPH Improvement Initiative” in collaboration with key patent offices from the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea. This initiative aims to elevate the user experience of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) by setting ambitious targets for the average cycle time of the first office action and the average cycle time for replying to applicants’ responses, both now set at three months starting from 2024. Here’s a concise summary of the specific changes: Timeline Before After Average Cycle Time for First Notice Within Four Months Within Three Months…
