Products Solely Relating To Improvements To Computer Software Programs Do Not Fall Under Patentable Subject Matters Of Utility Model Patents

The Supreme People's Court, in its second-instance judgment in an administrative appellate case concerning the invalidation of a utility model patent, held that where a claim is drafted in a form of a product claim but substantially belongs to a claim of computer program module framework, it does not fall under the patentable subject matters of utility model patents. For a product claim that includes both hardware improvements and computer program, where the improvement to the prior art lies in the hardware part and the involved computer program is known, it can be deemed as falling under the patentable subject matters of utility model patents; where the claim involves improvements both to the hardware part and to computer program per se, it generally does not fall under the subject matters of utility model patents. Where the claim solely involves improvements to the computer program per se, it generally does not fall under the patentable subject matters of utility