In China, since 1993 the term of a patent for invention
(equivalent to utility patent) has been 20 years.
The Fourth Amendment to the China Patent Law ("Amended
Patent Law") adopted in October 2020 introduced a brand-new
Patent Term Extension (PTE).
According to the Amended Patent Law, PTE allows extension of the
20-year term of a patent related to a new pharmaceutical product
approved for marketing in China to compensate for unreasonable
curtailment of the effective patent term as a result of the
marketing approval process.
In particular, Paragraph 3 of Article 42 of the Amended Patent
Law stipulates that:
- In order to compensate for the time taken for review
and approval of a new drug for marketing, the CNIPA shall extend
the term of the patent for invention related to the new drug for
which a marketing approval is obtained in China, at the request of
the patentee, and
