Study tour on the revision of the Chinese Patent Law Print

23 October - 1 November 2008, Spain and Germany

As part of its support to China’s revision of the Patent Law, IPR2 supported a delegation of officials from the Legislative Affairs Commission (LAC) of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) on a study tour to Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich and Madrid from 23 October to 1 November 2008.

The study tour sought to address final questions put forward by the LAC drafting team, in particular on Europe’s Patent Law systems and up and coming reforms, as China progresses with the third revision of its Patent Law. The revision aims to improve and strengthen patent protection in China in line with the goal of constructing an “innovative country” as outlined in the National IPR Strategy, as well as bring it fully in line with WTO requirements.

 

The respective drafting work has reached its final stage and the State Council’s Legislative Affairs Office (SCLAO) submitted the draft amendment of the Chinese Patent Law to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) for review and final enactment at the end of August 2008. This final review and drafting work has been entrusted to LAC. 

 

IPR2 supported the crucial legislative work undertaken by LAC with a study tour taking members of the drafting team to meet with European patent authorities and experts in Germany and Spain, including the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO), German Federal Ministry of Justice, District Court Düsseldorf, German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), German Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht), the European Patent Office as well as industry associations and law firms.

 

This builds on the broader collaboration between IPR2 and LAC in reviewing the Chinese Patent Law with the EU-China Roundtable on the Revision of the Chinese Patent Law in Beijing from 7-8 May 2008 and  the EU-China Workshop on the Revision of the Chinese Patent Law in Harbin from 24-25 September 2008. Most recently on 17 December 2008, Mr Andreas Obst, IPR2 long-term expert, delivered a lecture to Peking University’s Masters of Law (IP) students on ‘EU-China co-operation on IP laws in practice: Revision of the Chinese Patent Law’, as part of IPR2’s broader engagement with Chinese academic institutions.

 

The LAC is a working body of the Standing Committee of the NPC. It is responsible for the legislative and other legal affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC, and acts as assistant and legal counsel to the deputies and leaders of NPC.The Study Tour served to provide comprehensive responses to the topics that form part of LAC’s revision of the Patent Law and well as concrete suggestions provided to the drafting team in its final stages of revision. Such an opportunity for face-to-face discussions with key patent-related authorities and experts contributes to a closer understanding of the European IP systems and experiences and stronger ties between Chinese and European IP-related authorities.The meetings addressed the following technical issues:

  • Protection of patent rights
  • Co-owned rights
  • Mandatory procedure for filing of rights
  • Invalidation procedure and legal consequences of invalidity of a patent
  • Compulsory licensing
  • Prior art defense system
  • Litigation for patent infringement /’counter claims for malicious litigation’ and ‘file wrapper estoppel’
  • Measures for preventing abuse of patent right
  • Foreign filing for domestic inventions

For more information on the patent law revision, contact Mr Andreas Obst This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

For general information on IPR2, contact Ms Tamryn Barker This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

[IPR2 ref. CC1.AW1.001]