On November 10, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published Draft Amendments to Patent Examination Guidelines (referred to “Draft” hereafter) and solicited public opinions by December 10, 2020.  …
Continue Reading DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO PATENT EXAMINATION GUIDELINES

On 11 November 2020, lawmakers at the 23rd session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee deliberated and voted to adopt the Decision on Revising the Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China, marking the completion of the decade-long third amendment to the Copyright Law (hereinafter referred to as the “Amendment”). The newly amended Copyright Law (hereinafter referred to as the “2020 Copyright Law”) consists of 67 articles in six chapters, and shall come into force as of 1 June 2021.
Continue Reading The Amended Copyright Law and Its Potential Implications

On November 16, 2020, the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) released Several Provisions of Supreme People’s Court on Evidence in Intellectual Property Civil Litigation (“Provisions”). The Provision consists of 33 Articles and has gone into effect on November 18, 2020. On the whole, the Provision is a summary of intellectual property judicial practice, perfecting regulations in relation to evidence submission and obstruction, evidence preservation and forensic appraisal, evidence cross-examination and recognition, damage compensation, etc., so as to appropriately reduce the burden of proof by right holders and effectively resolve problems of “difficulty in adducing evidence” and “high enforcement cost” encountered by intellectual property rights holders in civil litigations. Thus, it is of positive significance to strengthen judicial protection for intellectual property rights. The main contents of the Provision are analyzed as follows.
Continue Reading Overview of SPC’s Provisions on Evidence in IP Civil Litigation

In the top 10 patent reexamination & invalidation cases of 2019 announced by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), five are related to mechanical technologies.  According to the CNIPA, these cases were selected for their guiding value in certain topics typical for patent examination, as well as the considerable social attention focused on them.  The opinions reflected in the Decisions of these cases would undoubtedly impose great influence on the practices of both substantial examination and invalidation, and can be cited as supporting reference or evidence to benefit similar cases.  Therefore, we summarize below the case brief and introduce the focuses of the five invalidation cases of mechanical invention.
Continue Reading Introduction to 2019 Top Ten Patent Reexamination/Invalidation Cases(Mechanical)

The current Patent Law of China came into force in 1985 and was revised three times in 1992, 2000 and 2008, respectively. In order to keep up with developments of the times, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (hereinafter “CNIPA”) researched and drafted the Revision Draft of the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for purposes of Soliciting of Comments from the Public) (hereinafter “Revision Draft”) in accordance with the 2012 legislative work schedule of the State Council in China. The Revision Draft, published on August 10th, 2012 for comments, was followed by multiple drafts until a final draft was reached and submitted to the National People’s Congress of China for vote. On October 17th, 2020, the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress of China passed the Decision on Revising the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China. The newly revised Patent Law of China will come into force on June 1st, 2021. It took about 8 years to fulfill this fourth revision of Patent Law.
Continue Reading Brief Comments on the Fourth Revision of Patent Law of China