Originally from:
Intellectual Property Law of China - Hardcover
Intellectual Property Law of China - Electronic
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— Chapter 2 —
PATENTS
Chun M. Ng and Zhuang Yuan
I. Introduction
China’s patent law system is generally well developed and well
managed. The patent Examiners of the State Intellectual Property Office
(the “SIPO”) (formerly the “Patent Office”) are well educated and usually
provide considered reasoning when objections and/or rejections are raised.
However, the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (the “Patent
Law”) still needs to be revised in order to codify some areas of practice and
to more closely follow international harmonization trends. In response to
this need, the Chinese government recently adopted the Third Amendment
to the Patent Law (the “Third Amendment” or the “amended Patent Law”).
Both the current Law (based on the Second Amendment to the Patent Law)
and the Third Amendment are discussed in this chapter.
A. Legislation
China’s Patent Law was adopted by the National People’s Congress
(NPC) of China on March 12, 1984 for the first time when a European
style patent system and Patent Office were established in China. The
European Patent Office advised the Chinese government on the drafting
of the Patent Law and the creation of the Patent Office, and undertook to
train technically skilled staff to work as patent Examiners. The Patent
Law took effect on April 1, 1985 and has been amended three times in
1992, 2000 and 2008, respectively.
The changes in the first two amendments mainly focused on
fulfilling China’s commitments to the international community and
bringing the Patent Law in compliance with internationally accepted
norms. The First Amendment came into force in 1993, in which a
number of significant improvements were made, most notably the
inclusion of chemical compounds as patentable subject matter and
inaugurated China’s membership in the Patent Cooperation Treaty
(PCT). The Second Amendment was approved on August 25, 2000, and
came into force on July 1, 2001. The Second Amendment (the “Current
Chun M. Ng is a partner at Perkins Coie and is the Chair of the firm's
Intellectual Property Practice. His practice involves providing strategic
intellectual property counseling, patent procurement and enforcement,
and litigation management services to some of the most innovative
fabless integrated circuit design companies in the world. Some of his
clients include HTC Corp., Monolithic Power Systems, Inc., and
Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. since their founding. For these
companies and others, he has handled numerous intellectual property
matters and managed adversarial proceedings around the world,
particularly in Asia. As such, he has significant technical expertise in
areas ranging from analog and digital circuit design to memory to
complex mixed signal integrated circuits. Mr. Ng's other areas of
expertise include image sensors, digital signal processing, wireless
protocols and devices, optical switching, image compression, enterprise
software, and electronic gaming devices and software.
Zhuang Yuan is a partner and patent attorney at Liu, Shen & Associates in
China. Mr. Yuan focuses his practice on patent prosecution, due diligence
and infringement, validity and patentability opinions. He offers technical
expertise in the areas of molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry,
immunology, cell biology and microscopy, genetics and developmental
biology, plant biology, physiology, neuroscience, material science and
semiconductors. He is also experienced in representing clients in patent
litigation and licensing agreements. Mr. Yuan is a member of American
Bar Association and American Intellectual Property Law Association.
