Changes to the China patent law have been eagerly awaited
following several announcements mentioning reform. An
"Amendment to the Patent Law of the People's Republic of
China (Second Review Draft)" has now been published online by
the National People's Congress on 3 July 2020, and seeks
further opinions by 16 August 2020. Key items include the link
between the regulatory and the patent office with regards to
pharmaceutical patents, as well as entering into several patent
law-related commitments in the China-US Trade Agreement (see
related articles below).
As anticipated, core parts of the proposed changes relate to the
pharmaceutical sector with the aim to create a patent linkage and
patent term extension system in the patent law.
