State Intellectual Property Office, Decision on Amending the «Patent Examination Guidelines»

国家知识产权局关于修改《专利审查指南》的决定

April 27, 2017 | BY

Susan Mok &clp articles &

Patent Examination Guidelines revised to accommodate technology development.

Clp Reference: 5100/17.02.28 Promulgated: 2017-02-28 Effective: 2017-04-01

Promulgated: February 28 2017

Effective: April 1 2017

Main contents: If a claim involving a business model includes both content on business rules and method, on the one hand, and technical features, on the other hand, the possibility for obtaining a patent therefor shall not be precluded based on Article 25 of the Patent Law (Item One).

In contrast to an “invention involving a computer program”, a claim for a “computer program itself” may be written by using the “medium + computer program flow” method (Item Two).

The amended Guidelines appropriately relax the methods of revising patent documents, permitting the addition to a claim of one or more technical features documented in another claim to narrow the scope of protection, and permitting the correction of obvious errors in the claims (Item Six, Eight & Nine).

clp reference:5100/17.02.28 promulgated:2017-02-28 effective:2017-04-01

Promulgated: February 28 2017

Effective: April 1 2017

Main contents: If a claim involving a business model includes both content on business rules and method, on the one hand, and technical features, on the other hand, the possibility for obtaining a patent therefor shall not be precluded based on Article 25 of the Patent Law (Item One).

In contrast to an “invention involving a computer program”, a claim for a “computer program itself” may be written by using the “medium + computer program flow” method (Item Two).

The amended Guidelines appropriately relax the methods of revising patent documents, permitting the addition to a claim of one or more technical features documented in another claim to narrow the scope of protection, and permitting the correction of obvious errors in the claims (Item Six, Eight & Nine).

clp reference:5100/17.02.28 promulgated:2017-02-28 effective:2017-04-01

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