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…
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Major and Exciting Changes to China’s Patent Law [Fourth Amendment to China’s Patent Law]
Major changes are on the horizon for China’s Patent Law, which will see an overhaul in many areas as early as this year (2019). On January 4, 2019, the National People’s Congress in China published the latest draft of the Fourth Amendment to China’s Patent Law. Several draft amendments have been released for public comment in the past several years, starting from 2012 to this most recent one in 2019. The period for public comment just closed on February 3, 2019. The goal is to implement this amendment in 2019. As a whole, these proposed changes address a lot of the criticisms people have had regarding the strength of IP…
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New Policies to Promote Importation of Innovative Drugs
At the April 12, 2018 executive meeting of the State Council in China, Premier Mr. Li Keqiang indicated the government’s desire to increase China’s access to innovative drugs. To achieve this, the government would encourage importation of innovative drugs into China by streamlining the regulatory pathway, enhancing IP protection, and lowering the cost of medicine. Shortly thereafter, the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) published draft guidelines on May 12, 2018 and asked for comments. Below is a summary of where things stand today.