Draft Revision To Patent Law Submitted To NPC Standing Committee

The draft revision to the Chinese Patent Law was submitted to an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for a second review. It was first read in December 2018.

One of the highlights of this draft is to add patent protection for partial design of a product, which aligns with internationally-accepted practice.

To reflect the Phase One Agreement between China and the USA, an article regarding patent term compensation was included for delays in examination which is not attributable to the applicant.

Also, a new article was introduced to address the good faith principle. That is, patentees cannot use their patents to exclude or restrict competition. Where there is patent abuse, it needs to be governed by the Anti-Monopoly Law.