Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice Advance Access originally published online on January 31, 2008
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 2008 3(3):163-173; doi:10.1093/jiplp/jpm257
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© The Authors (2008). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
Practice Point |
An overview of the judicial protection of patents in China
Legal context: The present paper introduces how the patent protection system is organized in China and the competence of various administrative and judicial instances is reviewed with case studies as illustrative examples.
Key points: The article describes the patent grant (or refusal) procedure and the means available to an applicant to have a decision reviewed, as well as the prosecution of invalidity actions.
Practical significance: Finally, the authors examine responses to patent counterfeiting through administrative proceedings along with their practical implications. This might possibly involve agreement between the parties, and judicial actions, including both civil and criminal proceedings.
Key Words: The processes by which patent protection is obtained and enforced in China are rarely understood by outsiders, particular among those who judge the worth of a patent system in accordance to the extent that its own laws and institutions mirror their own. • Devised out of a need to respond to international pressures while also addressing its own cultural and political imperatives, the Chinese system demands careful attention if it is to be used to best effect by patent owners, whether from outside the People's Republic or from within it. • This article explains the main features of a system which is accused both of being too complex and too simple, highlighting its strengths and the areas in which further attention should be directed.
* Lin Yasong, attorney at law at the China bar, is presently concluding his PhD thesis at the Law Institute of University Paris 2, France (linyasong{at}hotmail.com).
Marco T. Connor, PhD, former patent examiner at the European Patent Office (EPO), is presently head of the patent department at Office Kirkpatrick, Belgium (m.connor{at}kirkpatrick.eu; www.kirkpatrick.eu).