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, Design, Inventiveness, Patent Re-examination and Invalidation Department
