During an executive meeting on November 3, 2023, the State Council, China's Cabinet, approved the Draft Implementation Rules of the Patent Law. As an important supporting regulation to ensure the implementation of the Patent Law, the revision of the Implementing Rules of the Patent Law has been highly anticipated since the fourth amendment of the Patent Law was passed. It has been three years since the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published the Proposals for Revisions to the Implementing Rules of the Patent Law (Draft for Comment) on November 27, 2020. With the approval of the Draft Implementation Rules at the State Council executive meeting, the formal version of the Implementation Rules of the Patent Law is expected to be officially released soon. 

The current Patent Law of China was implemented in 1985 and has undergone four amendments in 1992, 2000, 2008, and 2020, respectively. The highlights of the fourth amendment of the Patent Law include the introduction of partial designs, design patent term extension, adoption of the patent linkage system, patent term extension for pharmaceutical patents, the introduction of punitive damages, higher cap of statutory damages, introduction of patent open license system, etc. 

According to the Director of the Department of Laws and Regulations of the CNIPA, the amendment of the Implementation Rules of the Patent Law has three characteristics. Firstly, it implements the government's decisions and deployments on strengthening the protection of IPRs and further enhances China's level of patent creation, utilization, protection, management, and services. Secondly, it refines and improves the systems following the amended Patent Law to maintain the consistency and stability of the patent system. Thirdly, it aligns with the relevant international treaties that China has joined to fulfill its obligations and further integrate into international rules. Specifically, the amendments primarily involve five aspects: the refinement of the patent application system, the improvement of the patent examination system, the strengthening of administrative protection, the enhancement of public services, and the addition of special provisions for international applications for designs.

The approval of the amended Implementation Rules of the Patent Law is one of the recent measures taken by China to accelerate the construction of an IP powerhouse. According to the CNIPA, further measures, such as the revision of the Trademark Law and the implementation rules of the Copyright Law, will be accelerated to improve the intellectual property system continuously. We will closely monitor the formal release of the Implementation Rules of the Patent Law and other legal updates