In patent prosecution, the concept of a “conflicting application” or “secret prior art” plays a critical role in determining the patentability of an invention. This article explores the framework for assessing conflicting applications under Chinese patent law, with a comparative perspective on the approaches adopted in the United States. Case Background: The Image Encoding Dispute The subject of the appeal was a patent application for an image encoding technology, filed on June 5, 2019. The applicant had not claimed any priority. The CNIPA Examiner had issued a Final Rejection, asserting that the application lacked novelty in light of two prior PCT international applications: The applicant appealed this decision, leading to…
China, China Patent Office, CNIPA, Conflicting Application, Patent, Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Department
