The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the long-awaited amended PRC Copyright Law on November 11, 2020, which became effective on June 1, 2021. In tandem with the effective date of the amended PRC Copyright Law, the People’s Courts and the National Copyright Administration recently held some press releases, announcing model cases involving internet disputes and copyright protection. Some of the important announcements include the following:

Continue Reading The PRC People’s Courts and Governmental Authorities Issue Model Cases regarding Internet Disputes and Copyright Protection

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the amended PRC Patent Law on October 17, 2020, and the new PRC Patent Law became effective on June 1, 2021. Article 70.1 of the new PRC Patent Law provides that “the patent administrative department under the State Council may, at the request of the relevant patentee or the interested parties, handle the patent infringement dispute that has a major impact nationwide.” Continue Reading Measures Issued on Administrative Adjudication of Major Patent Infringement Disputes

This article addresses three important changes to pharmaceutical patents in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in view of the newly amended PRC Patent Law (the Law), which will take effect on June 1, 2021, and the recent amendments to the Patent Examination Guidelines (the 2021 Guidelines) that took effect on January 15, 2021. These changes involve (1) patent term compensation due to delay in patent prosecution and/or marketing approval; (2) patent linkage system for pharmaceutical patents; and (3) relaxed criteria for consideration of post-filing data in patent prosecution. These changes aim to improve patent protection and enhance patent value for inventions in the PRC; they are also consistent with matters addressed in the Economic And Trade Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America And the Government of the People’s Republic of China (the Agreement) issued January 15, 2020.

Continue Reading Three Changes to Pharmaceutical Patents in the PRC

On May 25, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the interim measures for processing of related examination businesses regarding the implementation of the amended patent law (the Measures).[1] Both the Measures and the amended patent law (the Law) will take effect on June 1, 2021. Continue Reading Interim Measures for Implementation of the Amended Patent Law in the PRC

The Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) launched a patent information registration platform for public testing of drugs approved in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).[1] The CDE further specified 1) patents eligible for the registration; 2) the deadline for generic applicants to submit a patent declaration; and 3) the four types of patent declarations. Continue Reading Patent Linkage Registration Platform Launched in China for Public Testing

On May 7, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the Provisions Concerning the Participation of Technical Investigators in the Handling of Cases of Administrative Adjudications Involving Infringement Disputes over Patent and Layout Design of Integrated Circuit (Interim). Issuance of these provisions follows the Supreme People’s Court’s regulation on technical investigators for IP-related litigations and reflects the CNIPA’s determination to encourage the use of administrative recourse even in complex patent disputes. Some noteworthy articles include the following: Continue Reading Provisions Issued on Technical Investigators Participating in Disputes Over Patent and Layout Design of Integrated Circuit

On May 15, 2019, the Zhejiang High People’s Court (the Appellate Court) reversed the trial court decision and found the defendant infringing the plaintiff’s Chinese Patent No. ZL 200880118796.3. The Appellate Court concluded that the term “the luggage strap . . . guided adjustably along the wall of the luggage” does not require the luggage strap to remain in contact with the wall of the luggage because the objective of the patent is to variably divide the inner space by the intermediate plate. Although the Patent Examination Guidelines (2010) state that an objective of the patent, which solves technical problems over prior art, should be in the “Background” section, the Appellate Court relied on the objective disclosed in other sections of the specification. Similarly, in Xiaoping Ren & Jie Sun v. Apple Computer Trading (Shanghai) Co. (2020), the Supreme Court relied on the objective disclosed in the “summary of invention” section to exclude technical solutions that cannot achieve the objective from the scope of the claims.

Following our last blog post, there have been numerous additional developments in the PRC IP space around World Intellectual Property Day. Those developments include the following press conferences and reports on the IP protection condition and identification of certain IP model cases in 2020: Continue Reading The PRC People’s Courts and Governmental Authorities Issue White Papers and Model Cases regarding IP Protection

During the last week, and to mark the World Intellectual Property Day (April 26, 2021), the People’s Court in several jurisdictions held press conferences to summarize the judicial IP protection progress made during 2020 and released lists of noteworthy cases. Some of the announcements made by the courts in key jurisdictions include the following:   Continue Reading The PRC People’s Courts Issue White Papers and Model Cases Regarding Judicial IP Protection

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress announced amendments to the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China on April 23, 2019.

The new amendments address three primary issue areas:

  1. the filing of trademark applications in bad faith without an intent to use;
  2. the sanctioning of trademark agencies that assist with the filing of trademarks in bad faith; and
  3. increasing punitive and statutory damages, and clarifying the disposition of infringing goods by the People’s Courts.

This update details the new amendments and offers takeaways for brand owners. Read the full Update.