Publications

CNIPA further clarifies how it counts "delays" when calculating Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) in the new Draft Examination Guidelines and how it affects international applicants April 2023 At the end of October 2022, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released a new draft amendment of the Patent Examination Guidelines1 (hereinafter referred to as the

Foreigners Beware: China Proposes Requiring IP Made Using Exported Chinese Genetic Resources to be Co-Owned by Chinese Collaborators March 2023 Proposed Examination Guidelines for the New Chinese Patent Law - Topic 2: Genetic Resource Restriction   How Will the Tightened Genetic Resource Restrictions Affect Your IP In 2019-2021, China's Ministry of Science and Technology ("MOST",

First Ever Successful Invalidation Challenge Due to Unauthorized Foreign Filing What does an invention "completed" in China mean? March 2023 China and the US are similar in that both countries highly value national security, and thus have rules regulating the exportation of technology and information from within their borders. This includes new inventions that arise

Introducing the New USPTO Cancer Moonshot Expedited Examination Pilot Program January 2023 Starting from February 1, 2023, the USPTO will begin the new Cancer Moonshot Expedited Examination Pilot Program that advances out-of-turn applications that are directed to oncology or smoking cessation. This new program will replace the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program that has been in

FOLLOW UP: Amendments to the China Patent Examination Guidelines in 2022 Part 1: New rules for designs in view of China signing onto the Hague Agreement January 2023 Since the publication of our earlier article about China signing onto the Hague Agreement, some of our Hong Kong clients have expressed interest in taking advantage of

BREAKING NEWS: New Pilot Program for Hong Kong Applicants to get Accelerated Patent Examination in the Chinese Patent Office Starting January 1, 2023 January 2023 New year, new resolutions! The CNIPA has recently announced a pilot program that provides Hong Kong applicants the opportunity to expedite their patent applications filed in China. Starting 1 Jan

Chinese Courts Cares More About Patent Quality Now (A Doctrine of Equivalents Story) December 2022 There is no doubt that the drafting quality of a patent can be crucial in determining the success (or failure!) of the patent during litigation. However, due to various reasons, patents often fail to use the right drafting strategies that

Amendments to the China Patent Examination Guidelines in 2022 Part 1: New rules for designs in view of China signing onto the Hague Agreement December 2022 This year, China stepped further onto the international scene by signing on as a member of the Hague Agreement. The Hague Agreement is an international registration system allowing applicants

China Proposes New Examination Guidelines for Utility Models November 2022 The Utility Model (UM) in China has always been a popular choice for patent filing due to its relatively low cost and speed of prosecution. The UM prosecution only includes a preliminary examination, which is essentially a mini (stripped down) version of an invention application's

China Announcing More Proposed Amendments to the Examination Guidelines in 2022 November 2022 It’s been a year and a half since the new Chinese Patent Law came into effect (1 June 2021). Although various versions of draft Examination Guidelines have been released, thus far no official finalized versions have been confirmed. On October 31, 2022,