On December 15, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the First Batch of Guiding Cases for Administrative Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (第一批知识产权行政执法指导案例). Administrative enforcement enables rights holders in China to petition administrative agencies to enforce their rights including issuing injunctions, seizing and destroying infringing goods and manufacturing equipment, and imposing fines on infringers. The First Batch includes 5 guiding cases for administrative enforcement of patents, trademarks, and integrated circuit layout designs.
Category: Patents
China Releases Amended Patent Examination Guidelines Focusing on Pharma and Biotech
On December 14, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Announcement of the CNIPA on Amending the Patent Examination Guidelines (No. 391) (国家知识产权局关于修改《专利审查指南》的公告（第391号)). This set of amendments focuses on pharmaceutical and biotech patent applications. The amended Guidelines go into effect on January 15, 2021.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Guidelines for Enforcement of Intellectual Property Judgments
On December 10, 2020, China’s Supreme People’s Court released “Guidelines for Enforcement of Intellectual Property Judgments” (知识产权判决执行工作指南). The Guidelines have 29 Articles that cover the types of cases the Guidelines cover; enforcement of civil intellectual property cases; enforcement of intellectual property administrative cases; and enforcement of criminal intellectual property cases.
Guest Post: Contradictory Interpretations of Means-plus-function Claims in China
This article a guest post by Xiao HAN (Ms.) and Haoyu (Elliot) ZHOU (Mr.). According to the Chinese Patent Law and practice, means-plus-function claims are interpreted differently at the time of Chinese patent prosecution and Chinese patent litigation. Basically, while “means-plus-function” claims are interpreted as “any means that could achieve the function” by examiner(s) during patent examination (i.e., a broad claim that is difficult to be granted), such claims are merely interpreted as “embodiments disclosed in the Specification, or equivalent …