Recently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration released the "Draft Amendments to the Patent Examination Guidelines (for public consultation)". This revision aims to further optimize patent examination standards to meet the new trends of technological innovation and provide more precise and stringent norms for intellectual property protection. Below is a detailed analysis of the key amendments in the draft:
I. Clarifying the Requirements for Filling in Identity Information of Inventors
The draft emphasizes that the identity information of inventors should be filled in, and it is prohibited to fill in the names of units, collectives, or artificial intelligence. This provision aims to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of inventors' identities, prevent improper attribution in patent applications, and maintain the seriousness and fairness of the patent system.
II. Strengthening the Responsibility of Patent Agencies
The draft requires patent agencies to ensure the authenticity and validity of the identity information of inventors and applicants, as well as contact details, when submitting patent application documents. Additionally, the name of the patent agency must match the full name registered with the China National Intellectual Property Administration and be consistent with the agency's official seal on the application documents. These requirements help regulate patent agency practices, enhance the quality and credibility of patent application documents, and prevent false information.
III. Refining the Regulations on Priority Claims
The draft details the situation where multiple priorities are claimed but the information of prior applications is not specified or is incorrect. If applicants submit copies of prior application documents within the prescribed period, examiners will issue a notice for correction. If no response is received by the deadline or the correction still does not meet the requirements, the priority claim will be deemed as not having been made. Moreover, the draft specifies that if a divisional application does not declare the priority of the original application in the request form, it will be regarded as not claiming such priority. These amendments help clarify the examination standards for priority claims, protect applicants' legitimate rights and interests, and improve the efficiency and accuracy of patent examination.
IV. Elaborating on the Scope of Patentable Subject Matter
The draft supplements and refines the definitions of animal and plant varieties. Animal varieties do not include humans, and plant varieties must possess distinctness, uniformity, and stability. These amendments help delineate the boundaries of patent protection, prevent the inclusion of non-patentable biological varieties in the protection scope, and provide clearer legal guidance for innovation in related fields.
V. Optimizing the Creativity Assessment Criteria
The draft stresses that the evaluation of invention creativity should focus on the technical solution defined by the claims as a whole, rather than on individual technical features. Furthermore, features that do not contribute to solving the technical problem will generally not affect the creativity of the technical solution, even if they are included in the claims. This amendment aims to guide applicants to focus on the overall technical solution and its creative contribution when drafting patent applications, avoiding attempts to enhance creativity by adding irrelevant features.
VI. Strengthening the Examination of AI-Related Inventions
The draft emphasizes the comprehensiveness and wholeness of the examination of invention patent applications containing algorithm features or business rules and methods features. The examination should analyze the technical features, algorithms, and commercial rules and methods features as an integrated whole, focusing on the technical means employed, the technical problems solved, and the technical effects achieved. It also sets out more specific requirements for the preparation of the specification and claims of patent applications involving artificial intelligence to ensure adequate disclosure and realizability of the invention. These amendments reflect the China National Intellectual Property Administration's attention to innovation in the AI field and its strict control over the quality of related patent applications.
VII. Clarifying the Examination Rules for Biotechnology
The draft provides a detailed explanation of the distinctness, uniformity, and stability of plant varieties and specifies that artificially bred or improved plants and their propagation materials lacking these characteristics cannot be considered "plant varieties". It also clarifies the patentability of genetically modified animals and plants, further defining the examination standards for biotechnology patents.
Conclusion
Overall, the revisions in the "Draft Amendments to the Patent Examination Guidelines (for public consultation)" cover multiple aspects of patent applications. From the filling of inventors' identity information to the responsibility of patent agencies, from priority claims to the definition of patentable subject matter, and from creativity assessment to examination rules for specific fields such as AI and biotechnology, the draft introduces more detailed and stringent provisions. These amendments will not only enhance the quality and efficiency of patent examination and promote the healthy development of the patent system but also provide clearer and more operational guidance for innovation entities. This will help stimulate societal innovation, facilitate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and drive industrial upgrades. With the official implementation of the draft, China's patent examination work will enter a new phase, offering a more robust institutional guarantee for building a strong intellectual property nation.
To find out more, please refer to the original text: CNIPA
鄂公网安备 42010402001546号