China Revises Its Guidelines for Patent Examination, Effective 1 November 2019
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has issued on 23 September 2019 a latest revision of its Guidelines for Patent Examination (2010).
The highlights of this revision include: further defining the timeline for filing of "passive divisional applications"; providing more detailed requirements on GUI design applications; relaxing the restriction on invention patent applications benefiting from stem cell researches; further regulating the "three-step method" for inventive step assessment and the use of common knowledge; refining the provisions on prior art search and telephone discussion; and introducing a deferred examination procedure.
This revision of the Guidelines will take effect on 1 November 2019.
