Patent Law revisions approved

February 09, 2009 | BY

clpstaff &clp articles

No more China first filing, but closer scrutiny of foreign applications

China has removed the local first-filing rule from its Patent Law, but added new provisions to require scrutiny of all patents which are initially filed overseas.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approved revisions to the Patent Law on December 27 2008; they take effect on October 1 2009.

The previous version of the Law said that Chinese entities (there had been considerable debate as to the meaning of this phrase) had to file patent applications in China before filing overseas. The removal of this requirement has been welcomed by most observers.

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