There's News Concerning the Chinese Patent Law

Recently the SIPO (State Intellectual Property Office of the People?s Republic of China) published a draft with modifications to the present Chinese patent law. These changes affect not only businesses who are already investing in the Chinese market, but also companies or inventors who want to apply for a patent. We sum up the most important points.

Modifications Concerning the Application and Examination of IP

The definition of inventions that can obtain patent protection shall be expanded (procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of farm animals)
The protection for designs will be improved (among other things, there?s a recommendation to increase the protection period from 10 to 15 years)
The procedures of patent application and examination and of carrying out nullity proceedings will be enhanced

Responsibility and Administration

The responsibility of governmental and local patent authorities will be narrowed and defined more precisely. These optimizations include the application, granting and enforcement of patents, but also information services.

Agreements for Licensing

The costs which arise during the licensing of patents shall be reduced
To this end procedures will be adopted from countries with more mature patent systems
Additionally the licensing procedures with SEPs (standard-essential patents) will be simplified and standardized

Improved Patent Enforcement

The reach of governmental measures shall be defined more accurately
A time frame will be set for decisions taken by authorities to be published
For cases of deliberate IP infringement a certain procedure will be set to collect punitive compensations

The Role of Patent Professionals in China

The competition of patent professionals with diverse qualifications shall be boosted
Patent agencies shall develop into market-oriented, international businesses

What these Changes mean for you

The intended modifications to the patent law show that China is preparing itself more and more for international investors and is trying to create incentives for them. Especially the more accurate definition of the different authorities? responsibility should have positive effects. The powers of the government and local authorities have often been hard to resolve which is a huge problem during patent disputes to this day.