Much has been written about the Chint vs. Schneider
case, in which a Chinese court awarded the largest ever amount of
damages for a patent infringement lawsuit in China. The fact that
this well-reported case was built upon a Chinese utility model
patent certainly has aroused great interest in China's
utility model patent system, especially among foreign entities. In
fact, many overseas practitioners now actively promote obtaining
utility model patents in China. In 2010, there was a 30 percent
increase on the previous year in terms of the number of utility
model patent applications filed by foreign entities in China.
Nevertheless, due to differences in patent drafting and certain
specific issues with respect to Chinese utility model patents,
careful review of the PR C utility model patent application may be
required if the application is based upon an earlier foreign patent
application.
