Chinese Patent Examination Guidelines 2023 – Toby's Observations

As reported in my previous article (see below), the Chinese Patent Examination Guidelines 2023 (the Guidelines 2023) was announced by the CNIPA on 21 December 2023 at the link below, the same day as the Implementation Regulations 2023 (the IMR 2023) of the Chinese Patent Law 2020 (the Law 2020):

https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2023/12/21/art_526_189193.html?xxgkhide=1

Unlike the IMR 2023 (for which the last draft that could be commented on was in November 2020), the last draft available for comment of the Guidelines 2023 was in November 2022, with an earlier draft in August 2021. There are quite a number of changes in this final 2023 version compared with the draft in November 2022, while many things remain unchanged. The article below are my views highlighting the differences between the November 2022 draft, and the final 2023 version. I do this as I was involved in providing comments to the CNIPA for all drafts either at the AIPLA or the IPO. My article on