Starting in 2023, Datang Mobile, one of the key players in China’s telecom standardization efforts, initiated infringement proceedings against Samsung in China, Germany, and the US. Samsung responded by filing multiple invalidation petitions in several jurisdictions, including China, the United States, and Europe. The case discussed below is one of above-mentioned invalidation cases in China, and was selected as one of the Top Ten Reexamination and Invalidation Cases of 2024 by CNIPA as “a typical patent case in the field of communications involving standards evolution in that its assessment of inventiveness provides guidance for this type of case.”1 Legal & Technical Focus The patent involved is titled “Carrier Aggregation Feedback…
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- China, China Patent Office, CNIPA, Design, Inventiveness, Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Department
Obviousness: can features from different categories of products be combined to invalidate a design patent?
Introduction “I have a tank, I have a gun—boom! Tank gun?” Each year the CNIPA releases a list of Top Ten Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Cases. These cases are meant to be guiding cases, showcasing exemplary real-world decisions that clarify certain aspects of the law. Over the next several months we will be highlighting many of these cases. Today’s article relates to design patents and the standard of what is “distinctly different”. Particularly, this case asks whether two prior art design elements can be combined to invalidate the novelty of a design if the two prior art features come from different categories of products. The Chinese patent law states: “A…
- China, China Patent Office, CNIPA, data, Invalidation, Patent, Patent Law, Patent Re-examination Board, Patentability, Pharma, Support Requirements
How to Protect a Crystal Form (Polymorph) Patent in China
Crystalline forms are critical to pharmaceutical patents, offering extended protection for improved stability, bioavailability, or manufacturability. However, securing such patents in China has grown increasingly difficult due to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA)’s strict patentability criteria. Unlike the U.S. or Europe, where structural novelty or problem-solving utility may suffice, China demands quantifiable evidence of superiority over prior art forms and rejects patents based on routine screening alone. Recent decisions, like the invalidation of fruquintinib Crystal Form I, highlight common pitfalls: insufficient comparative data, incremental technical effects, and failures to preempt obviousness challenges. With China’s pharmaceutical market surging and secondary patents under heightened scrutiny, companies must strategically align their IP strategies…
