After more than two years of drafts and revisions, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the finalized version of the revised Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law, as well as the Guidelines for Patent Examination on 21 December 2023. These changes will become effective as of 20 January 2024.
Both the new rules and examination guidelines include significant changes that will impact various aspects of patent applications and patent enforcement going forward. More detailed provisions corresponding to the 4th amendments of the Patent Law have been unveiled.
We can see a trend in the Chinese patent law system becoming more aligned and compliant with other major jurisdictions while maintaining its individual characteristics, including changes relating to priority claim, incorporation by reference and PTE/PTA, among others. Read more