On September 23, 2019, China National Intellectual Property
Administration (“CNIPA”) announced its
proposed amendments to China’s Guideline on Patent
Examination (the “Guideline”), which
is the counterpart of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure in
the U.S. The proposed amendments will become effective
November 1, 2019.
The current Guideline explicitly provides that “human
embryonic stem cells and the methods of preparing them are
patent-ineligible inventions in accordance with Article 5(1) of the
Patent Law.” The Guideline, as amended, has removed this
categorical exclusion, and instructs patent examiners in China that
they cannot refuse to grant patent rights by reason of
“contravening social morality” with respect to
inventions on “isolating or obtaining stem cells using human
embryos within fourteen (14) days after fertilization that have not
been developed in vivo.”
