TIPS^®  Taiwan Intellectual Property Special

Feature

Raise the “Novelty Bar” to secure high quality patents

China currently uses a “blended novelty” standard (relative novelty) for patentability. Under this standard, examiners would consider publication anywhere in the world as a loss of novelty, but not public use outside of China. As long as an invention was not publicly used or sold within Chinese territory, anyone could patent it in China. The amendments have now raised this standard to “absolute novelty”. Examiners are required to consider public use both inside and outside of China and no differentiation will be made between prior publications and prior use. It is the goal of this change to tighten the grant of patent right and curb “junk patents,” in order to bring higher standards of patent quality.