China Announces Completion of Their Third Generation Nuclear Reactor Backed by Over a Thousand Patents

Posted on Categories Patents

As reported by the South China Morning Post on September 28, 2020, China’s State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC) has announced the completion of the development of their third generation nuclear reactor referred to as CAP 1400 or 国和一号.  Based on AP1000 technology from Westinghouse, “the CAP1400 has two primary coolant loops that transfer the heat generated by the fission reaction of 235U in the reactor core to the steam generator (SG). Each loop consists of a hot leg, two cold …

China Releases Antitrust Guidelines for Intellectual Property

Posted on Categories Copyright, New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Patents

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released the Antitrust (also referred to as Anti-Monopoly) Guidelines of the Antitrust Committee of the State Council on the Field of Intellectual Property (国务院反垄断委员会关于知识产权领域的反垄断指南).  The guidelines are dated January 4, 2019 but only officially released on September 18, 2020.  The guidelines cover Intellectual Property Agreements That May Exclude or Restrict Competition; Abuse of Dominant Market Position Involving Intellectual Property Rights; Concentration of Operators Involving Intellectual Property Rights; and other Circumstances, such as patent pooling.

China Introduces Proposed Patent Linkage System for Comment

Posted on Categories New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Patents

On September 11, 2020, China’s  National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) jointly issued the draft Implementing Measures for Drug Patent Dispute Early Resolution Mechanism (Trial for Implementation) (Draft for Public Opinions) (药品专利纠纷早期解决机制实施办法(试行)( 征求意见稿)).  Patent linkage refers to the process by which a country links drug marketing authorization to the status of the patent(s) corresponding to the originator’s product. Typically, marketing authorization for a generic drug will not be granted prior to the expiration …

China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Administrative Cases Concerning Patent Grant and Confirmation

Posted on Categories Design Patent, New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Patents

China’s Supreme People’s Court published on September 11, 2020 (effective September 12) the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Administrative Cases Concerning Patent Grant and Confirmation (1) (最高人民法院关于审理专利授权确权行政案件适用法律若干问题的规定(一)).  The provisions clarify administrative litigation issues for Patent Reexamination Board decisions – both invalidations of granted patents and reexamination of finally rejected patent applications (similar to patent application appeals at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office).