Key Points Of The Latest Amendments To Guidelines For Patent Examination

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recently revised the Guidelines for Patent Examination (hereinafter referred to as "the Guidelines"). The revised Guidelines will take effect on January 1, 2026. The main contents of this revision are summarized as follows:

1. Dual-filing Strategy

Regarding invention and utility model applications filed under dual-filing [or both-filing] strategy, the original provision in the Guidelines stated: Where an applicant files both a utility model patent application and an invention patent application for the same invention-creation on the same day (referring only to the filing date), if the utility model patent obtained earlier has not yet terminated and the applicant has made separate statements at the time of filing, double-patenting issue may be avoided not only by amending the invention patent application but also by abandoning the utility model patent. Therefore, during examination of