In review: key recent IP developments and trends in China – Lexology

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Recent developments

On 5 February 2022, China joined the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The accession comes into force on 5 May 2022. This means that as of 5 May 2022, Chinese applicants and foreign applicants are able to register up to 100 designs in 94 countries, including China, through the filing of a single international application.

After the fourth amendment of China's Patent Law took effect on 1 June 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published draft versions of the Implementing Regulations of the Chinese Patent Law2 and the Guidelines for Patent Examination.3 Each has sections dedicated to the Hague Agreement. However, at the time of writing, neither has been finalised. According to the draft version of the Guidelines for Patent Examination, CNIPA will still conduct examination of the design applications filed through the Hague Agreement and may reject the application based on the examination standard of design applications in China.4 It is reasonable to expect that foreign applicants might still receive rejections based on lack of clarity, as Chinese practice is very strict in the sense that the drawings in a design application should clearly show the design. This means that applicants will still need to provide a sufficient number of drawings that show different sides of the product bearing the design, and they should correspond to each other so that the product can be shown clearly.

Trends and outlook

After China joins the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs, it is expected that the new Implementing Regulations of the Chinese Patent Law and the Guidelines for Patent Examination will be finalised some time in 2022.

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In review: key recent IP developments and trends in China - Lexology

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