For the sake of cost and the broadest protection scope, European
applicants generally file an application in which a multiple
dependent claim depends on another multiple dependent claim, as
allowed by the European Patent Office.
However, when a PCT application based on a European
application enters China or when an application claiming priority
of a European application enters China through the Paris
Convention, one of the primary formality issues that an applicant
often encounters is claims being objected to as multi-dependent
claims, in which multiple dependent claims refer back to multiple
dependent claims.
Usually, similar to what is required for applications in the
USA, the CNIPA in China will allow a dependent claim to refer back
in the alternative to more than one preceding dependent claim, but
such a multiple dependent claim referring back to another multiple
dependent claim is not allowed.
