Understanding Chinese Voluntary Divisional Application Patent Practice

For many parts of the world, a voluntary divisional application (known as a continuation application in the U.S.) may be filed at any time during the pendency of any parent application. The claims in the voluntary divisional application must be supported by the original specification and cannot introduce any new matter. Applicants often file one patent application at a time, and upon allowance, file a voluntary divisional application to pursue alternative subject matter disclosed in the original application. In this manner, serial applications can be filed until the patentable subject matter disclosed in the original application is exhausted or the application expires (subject to any term limitations, which in the U.S. is 20 years from the filing date of the earliest non-provisional priority application).