The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) administers more than 7,000 patent invalidation cases annually – an enormous caseload compared to that of the European and United States patent offices. In the second article in a two-part series for Managing IP, Marshall Gerstein Partner Sandip Patel is joined by Dr. Siqi Wang and Xiaoli Liu, Beijing-based patent attorneys at Spruson & Ferguson, to explore how Chinese courts adjudicate appeals of patent invalidation decisions issued by CNIPA.
Building on the procedural framework outlined in the first installment, the authors focus on representative cases that illustrate how courts evaluate both procedural compliance and substantive technical issues on appeal. The article highlights key principles that often shape outcomes, including the “principle of hearing” and the “principle of request,” and explains how courts assess inventiveness, prior art combinations, and the admissibility of post-filing data.
