The EU-China IPR2 Project is publishing a series of guides for companies seeking practical advice on how to protect their IP in China. The issue on patent protection has been updated in line with the recent changes to the Chinese Patent Law and now also includes further information on the new Implementing Regulations and Examination Guidelines which entered into force on 1 February 2010.
Other roadmaps provide information on "Customs Enforcement in China", "Trademark Protection in China", "Copyright Protection in China" and "IP Protection at Trade Fairs in Europe." The roadmaps can be downloaded as PDF versions free of charge at: http://www.ipr2.org/roadmap. Further information on the EU-China IPR2 Project can be found at: http://www.ipr2.org
... in 2009, more patents were granted to domestic Chinese than foreign companies?
For the first time in China, slightly more patents were granted to domestic Chinese applicants than to foreign applicants. According to Chinese Patent Office (SIPO) statistics, between January and December 2009, 65 491 patents were granted to domestic applicants (50.9%), 63 098 to foreign applicants (49.1%).
... SIPO has published a revised version of the "Examination Guidelines"?
In line with the recent revision of the Chinese patent law, the Chinese Patent Office (SIPO) has now also amended its "Examination Guidelines". The new guidelines entered into force on 1 February 2010.
A PDF version of the "Examination Guidelines" is available on SIPO's official website (currently in Chinese only) at: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo2008/zlsqzn/sczn2010.pdf
... the average examination time in China was further reduced in 2009?
According to SIPO's English website, the average time for the substantive examination of an invention patent has dropped from 25.8 months in 2008 to 25 months in 2009. For utility models, the examination process has been reduced from 11 months to 6.1 months. For industrial designs, the processing time of an application has dropped from 9.5 months in 2008 to 7.2 months in 2009.
More information:
http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/news/iprspecial/200912/t20091225_486273.html
... amended Implementing Regulations will enter into force in China on 1 February 2010?
Revised Implementing Regulations to the new Chinese Patent Law, which entered into force on 1 October 2009, have been approved by the State Council. Published on 9 January 2010, the regulations deal in more detail with specific aspects of the Patent Law, including SIPO's new "confidentiality" or "secrecy" examination, which has to be requested by applicants for inventions made in China before they can file abroad.If the applicant receives no notification of a secrecy examination within four months from filing the request, he may file abroad. Where required, the secrecy examination will be completed within two months.
The regulations also include details of filing requirements, especially for designs, which from now on are required to include a brief explanation of the design. Furthermore, patent applicants will no longer have to pay maintenance fees prior to the grant date.
More information about the Implementing Regulations is available on the SIPO website at: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo2008/yw/2009/201001/t20100119_488002.html
(currently in Chinese only). ... Chinese applicants are continuing to file abroad?
Filing figures in the USA, Europe and Japan for the first half of 2009 reveal that Chinese applicants were more active than for the same period the year before. However, there were fewer applications in China from foreign applicants.
More recent filing trends published by the SIPO: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/news/iprspecial/200909/t20090902_474380.html
... documents on the drafting process of the new Chinese patent law have been published?
The revised Chinese patent law will enter into force on 1 October 2009. In view of the upcoming law changes, a compilation of documents relevant at each stage of the drafting process between 2006 and 2008 has now been published on the website of the EU-China IPR2 Project. The compilation contains legal texts and supporting documents, such as explanatory notes from the Chinese authorities and comments submitted by various stakeholders, and can be downloaded in PDF format at: http://www.ipr2.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=103&Itemid=81
… the SIPO’s annual report 2008 (in English) is now available on their English website?
The report includes the latest statistics of patent filings in China. You can download the report of the State Intellectual Property Office of P.R. China (SIPO) at: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/laws/annualreports/AnnualReport2008/
... SIPO has relaunched its English websites?
On 26 April 2009, new English websites operated by the Chinese Patent Office (SIPO) and its “Intellectual Property Publishing House” (IPPH) went live. The interfaces for the free patent sources available on these websites have also been re-designed. Content and search functions have remained largely the same.
... SIPO and the UK-IPO have signed two agreements to foster innovation in industry?
At a summit meeting on 2 February 2009, the Chinese Patent Office and the UK Intellectual Property Office signed two agreements relating to patents and trade marks. The agreements are aimed at reducing backlogs by means of closer co-operation between examiners at the two offices and making it easier for industry in China and the United Kingdom to develop innovative products and services.
Further information can be found in the press releases on the UK-IPO website at http://www.ipo.gov.uk/press-release-20090202.htm and the SIPO website at http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/specialtopic/IPManual/200902/t20090218_441295.htm.
... the world's "Big Five" have announced a new co-operation framework?
The world's "Big Five" intellectual property offices have announced a new co-operation framework. The heads of the EPO, JPO, USPTO, KIPO and SIPO met on 27 and 28 October 2008 in Jeju, Korea with the aim of setting up ten foundation projects for a work-sharing infrastructure.
See http://www.epo.org/about-us/press/releases/archive/2008/20081031.html and
http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2008/20081031.html for more details.
... SIPO and the EPO held a Joint International Seminar on Automatic Machine Translation?
Machine translation experts from the EPO, SIPO, KIPO, WIPO and Japio joined forces at a seminar in Beijing on 4 November 2008 to discuss the future of machine translation in patent documentation.
Further details are available at http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/specialtopic/latestspecialtopic/ESJISAMT/programme/200809/t20080911_417872.htm
... a guide to SIPO’s new Chinese-English machine translation function is available
on the CNPAT website? This practical user guide shows you step by step how to retrieve a Chinese-to-English machine translation via the English search interface of the China Patent Database (www.cnpat.com.cn). The guide is available at www.cnpat.com.cn/430homepage/guidehome.html.
... China will explore the possibility of establishing specialised IP courts?
On 5 June 2008, the Chinese State Council released a National Intellectual Property Strategy, which includes a number of measures for the further improvement of the enforcement system. One of the issues will be exploring the possibility of establishing specialised intellectual property courts and a central appeal court. In general, the Strategy is aimed at raising the level of the creation, utilisation, protection and administration of intellectual property rights in China by the year 2020. The Strategy is the product of the "National Working Group for IPR Protection", which was set up in 2005 to co-ordinate intellectual property policies.
Further information can be found on the Chinese Patent Office's (SIPO) English website at: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/news/iprspecial/200806/t20080612_406418.htm.
More details in Chinese language, including a Chinese version of the Strategy, can be found on SIPO's Chinese website at: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo/ztxx/zscqzl/
The website of the "National Working Group for IPR Protection" can be accessed here: http://english.ipr.gov.cn/en/index.shtml
... the decisions of SIPO's Re-examination Board can now be searched in an online database?
On the Re-examination Board's new Chinese website at http://www.sipo-reexam.gov.cn/, invalidation suits can be searched by numbers, dates, title of the patent, name of the patent holder, name of the requester of invalidation, names of examiners involved, IPC classes, design classifications etc. via the following interface: http://www.sipo-reexam.gov.cn/fushen/search/search.asp. A second interface allows searches in the oral hearings of the Re-examination Board by numbers and names at: http://www.sipo-reexam.gov.cn/fushen/koushen/searchoral.asp. Currently, these searches only work in Chinese language.
... SIPO launched a free online Chinese-English machine translation service?
On 25 April 2008, SIPO launched two free online machine translation services, which can be accessed via their different English search interfaces. The translation engine developed by SIPO and its subsidiary organisation "China Patent Information Center" (CPIC) can be tested at both the following URLs: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/ and http://www.cnpat.com.cn. (Click here to see SIPO's press release on the new service: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/sipo_English/news/official/200804/t20080425_392724.htm.)
In addition, SIPO's "Intellectual Property Publishing House" (IPPH) launched an English version of their CNIPR website at http://english.cnipr.com/enpat. This website includes a new search tool, "C-Pat Search", and also offers the possibility for a machine translation.
... following SIPO's relaunch of the "CNPAT" database in October 2007...
... original Chinese documents have recently become available via this source? Laid-open publications and granted publications (TIFF format) can both be retrieved using the English and Chinese interfaces. In order to view the documents, the "AlternaTIFF" plug-in has to be installed. The plug-in can be downloaded free of charge at www.alternatiff.com. In addition, English abstracts for Chinese invention patents have now also been included for PCT applications and for documents claiming foreign priority. In these cases, the English abstract of the corresponding international application or priority document is loaded into CNPAT (www.cnpat.com.cn).
... the "China Patent Abstract Database" (CNPAT)
at www.cnpat.com.cn was relaunched and renamed "China Patent Database" in October 2007. The English search interface includes English abstracts for Chinese patents and bibliographic data for Chinese utility models. Full documents are no longer available via the English interface, but the drawings can be displayed as image data.
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