On 28^th April 2020, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) releases the long-awaited Draft “Provisions on Several Issues Concerning Adjudication of Administrative Cases Involving Granting and Affirmation of Patent Rights”, soliciting public opinions until 15^th June 2020. It has been almost two years since the releasing of its last draft on 1^st June 2018. The 2020 draft has a total of 36 articles, primarily addressing the matters below:

1)      Scope of disputes that are subject to be adjudicated in patent administrative proceedings,

2)      Requirements and examination as to the substance for granting and affirming patent rights,

3)      Scope of examination on post-filing supplementary experimental data in the pharmaceutical patent applications or patents. Controversial supplementary data may be subject to further testing or verification by a third institution.

4)      Parameters and other circumstances to factor in when ascertaining the similarities and differences between the design patent and the prior designs,

5)      Circumstances where the court may decide to rescind, partially rescind or uphold the decisions of reexamination or invalidation made by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and

6)      Prerequisites warranting the submission of new evidences in patent administrative proceedings.

Contributed by: Xiaoling Duan