China: Decision Amending the Guidelines for Patent Examination

October 15, 2013

China: The Decision Amending the Guidelines for Patent Examination was issued by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) on September 16, 2013, and entered into force on October 15, 2013.

The Decision makes amendments to Articles 11 and 13 of Chapter 2, Articles 8 and 11 of Chapter 3 and of the said Guidelines on examination of novelty of utility model applications and design patent applications. These amendments allow examiners to verify whether a utility model or design patent application lacks novelty through search during the preliminary examination and to enable the applicants to receive office actions including the rejection of the novelty of the patent.