The latest developments to China Patent Examination Guidelines
came into force on October 15th, 2013. To be specific, some
amendments were made with respect to the provisions of the
preliminary examination on the Chinese utility model and design
patent applications. The main contents of the amendments, reasons
for making such amendments, and the trends of the examination
results are briefly introduced here, along with further advice on
possible measures for an applicant(s) in relation to the
amendments.
1. Contents of the Amendments
a. Regarding the Chinese utility model patent application
Back to the Guidelines for Patent Examination before the
amendments, it was prescribed that "During the preliminary
examination, the examiner generally does not determine on search
whether a utility model is obviously lacking of novelty, but may
determine on the information of related prior art or conflicting
applications obtained not through search".
