Swiss-type claim, i.e. pharmaceutical use claim, is a special category of claims in patent applications in the field of medicine and refers to a claim which covers the second or subsequent medical use (or indication) of a known substance or compound. Swis

The story started from an invalidation plea launched by Sony Mobile Communications (China), against Xi'an, Shaanxi- based China Iwncomm over No.02139508.X invention patent titled a method for the access of the mobile terminal to the WLAN and for the data

On June 15, 2015, BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG) lodged a request to Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration (SIPA) for administrative adjudication, accusingShanghai Junmu Aluminum of infringing its No.ZL200830137275.5 industrial design patent on

Whether a refund of examination fee is possible before the First Office Action? Earlier this year, the National Intellectual Property Administration of China (CNIPA, formally known as SIPO) made an announcement (Decree No. 272) adjusting some of the paten

Usually, after a patent application is deemed as withdrawn, the applicant will take no further action, because giving up the prosecution is a deliberate choice that the applicant makes based on the evaluation on patentability, technology development, busi

On September 15, the Patent Reexamination Board (PRB) under the Staten Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) held an oral hearing for the patent invalidation request case numbered 4W105696. Reportedly, it is the fifth case in the batch of major cases pendin

Regarding a subject matter in related to a method for treating diseases, sometimes it might be difficult for foreign clients to understand the related provisions of the Patent Law. Most foreign patents / patent applications in this specific category may n

Many professionals have the same opinion that Chinese examiners follow very strict rules on the examination on inventiveness issue recent years. It looks common that Examiners may underestimate the inventiveness of claims. In many cases, after reviewing i

Prosecution of a business method patent application is still a hard work in China. AFD assisted a client on a business method-related application. In the First Office Action, the Examiner pointed out that a group of claims are not in conformity with the p

It is an arduous and important task for a patentee, after a patent has been granted, to enforce the patent and maximize the value of the patent and effectively combat any form of infringements. Considering the geographic limitation, it may be more difficu