After 12 years, the Fourth Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law has passed and will be in effect on 1 Jun 2021. After years of multiple draft amendments that moved in various directions, we FINALLY have some clarity on what patent protection is going to look like in China in the coming future. Many of these changes were already in the proposed draft amendments that came out in 2019 and 2020, though there have also been some adjustments. Most notable aspects of this new law include (1) patent term extension due to regulatory or patent office delay (2) patent linkage between new drug approval and patent disputes; (3) litigation reform…
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- China, Patent Linkage, Patent Term Extension, Pharma, Proposed Changes, Regulatory, Updates and Changes
Breaking News: Newest Draft Amendment to the Chinese Patent Law Available for Public Comment
Finally, after more than a year since the last draft amendment came out in 2019, a new draft has been submitted to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee for deliberation on June 28, 2020. The newest version is now published for public comments until August 16, 2020. As a whole, these proposed changes address a lot of the criticisms people have had regarding the strength of IP protection in China. These changes, once implemented, will make China a much more patent-friendly jurisdiction, benefiting innovators worldwide. Examples of notable changes include (1) a longer patent term for new drugs and design patents; (2) patent linkage; (3) litigation reform such as significantly…
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China Provides Specific Directions to Strengthen Patent / Technology Protection from 2020 to 2021
China continues to progress towards its major goal of significantly strengthening IP protection within its borders. Last year it announced several proposed amendments to its patent laws. In January 2020 China and the US signed the Economic and Trade Agreement between the Government of China and US (published 16 January 2020 –“Trade Agreement”), which detailed several areas in which China agreed to reform its laws, including in the areas of trade secrets and confidential information, pharmaceutical-related IP, piracy and counterfeiting, and enforcement. Just a few days ago on April 20th, 2020, the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published a long and comprehensive plan (“Plan”) on how to strengthen the…