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…