Insights

PCT

Filing into China

PCT national phase entry into China: deadlines, translations and the pitfalls that cost rightsFiling into China

The 30-month (or 32-month) deadline, what must be filed with the Chinese national phase request, how claims and description amendments are handled on entry, and the translation issues that most often narrow or invalidate a claim in Chinese examination.

FAST

Fast-track grant

Fast-track grant routes in China: pre-examination and prioritized examinationFast-track grant

Two official channels can bring an invention patent to grant in roughly three to six months instead of the usual pendency. Which technologies and which applicants qualify, how the classification match works, and what drafting defects cause a case to be turned away.

FTO

Risk clearance

Freedom-to-operate analysis for the Chinese marketRisk clearance

How we scope an FTO study for a product entering China: claim decomposition, search strategy across invention, utility model and design registers, the risk grading we report, and the design-around and invalidation options that follow a high-risk finding.

INVAL

Invalidation

Patent invalidation in China: attacking and defending a patentInvalidation

Invalidation before CNIPA is the central lever in Chinese patent disputes. Evidence combination, the inventive-step argument, the oral hearing, and how the same procedure is run from either side of the table - we act for both petitioners and patentees.

Trademark

Trademark protection in China: Madrid designations, bad-faith filings and the prior-use defenceTrademark

First-to-file means early filing matters. National filing versus a Madrid Protocol designation of China, opposition and invalidation against bad-faith applications, three-year non-use cancellation, and the statutory prior-use defence under Article 59(3) of the Trademark Law.

REWARD

Employer compliance

Reward and remuneration for employee inventors in China: building a scheme that holds upEmployer compliance

Chinese law gives employee inventors statutory rights to reward and remuneration for service inventions, and an enforceable company scheme can displace the default amounts. What a compliant scheme needs to contain, and how ownership and confidentiality clauses should be drafted alongside it.

NEW

Emerging rights

Emerging registration routes in China: data IP, IC layout-designs and new plant varietiesEmerging rights

Beyond patents, trademarks and copyright, China now offers data intellectual property registration, layout-design registration for integrated circuits and new plant variety protection. What each right covers, how long it lasts, and when it is worth filing.

These are practice notes maintained by the firm rather than dated news items. Dated firm announcements and Chinese-language commentary are published on the Chinese news page and on our WeChat account. For a note on a specific question, please contact us.