On December 20, 2017, in the Patent Reexamination Board of SIPO (PRB) v. Beijing Winsunny Harmony Science & Technology Co., Ltd. ((2016)最高法行再41号), the Supreme Court held that a Markush claim, when drawn to a class of chemical compounds, should be interpreted as a set of Markush elements rather than a set of independent specific compounds. The present case is a petition for retrial filed by the PRB, requesting the Supreme Court to review the second-instance decision made by the Beijing High People’s Court (“High Court”). In reversing the PRB’s decision in the invalidation proceedings instituted by Beijing Winsunny Harmony Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (“Winsunny”), the High Court recognized a Markush claim as claiming a set of parallel technical solutions. 

Abstract: Currently “common knowledge” has become a hot topic in academic research. How to correctly determine common knowledge has become the key to improve the quality of patent examination. This paper introduces the availability bias theory to point out that the common knowledge determining process tends to produce availability bias, give too much weight to the easily conceived technical knowledge, and turn a blind eye to a lot of other information that must be considered, leading to errors in determining common knowledge. In patent examination, the availability of parts, the availability of work methods and the availability of technical problems may lead to the availability bias. In the end, the countermeasures is put forward.

Just at the beginning of this year, the Patent Reexamination Board (PRB) of SIPO issued a decision in a notable patent invalidation trial against Novartis’s patent on Entresto (Sacubitril/Valsartan), holding all the claims of the patent invalid as being obvious.

The similarity criteria is always a focus of attention in determination of design infringement. Conventionally, people often discuss whether two designs are alike in determining design infringement without objective analysis standards.

For a service invention-creation, the right to apply for a patent belongs to the entity. After the application is allowed, the entity shall be the patentee. In these cases, the Supreme Court provided a method to determine whether an invention-creation in a patent application is a service invention.

The type of the infringement of making and selling a component patent that contains a patented component has been expressly determined, in the judicial interpretation published by the Supreme People’s Court in December 2009, as infringing actions of “using” and “selling” a patented component.

In patent infringement litigations, the right owner usually selects independent claim(s) with largest scope of protection for enforcement of the patent right. Senior patent attorney Bing Wu combines the SPC interpretations and his trial experiences to provide a brief guide on building a good foundation of selecting the rights claims is crucial for winning a patent infringement in China.

In its latest report the Supreme People’s Court explains the new patent, trademark and copyright concepts explored through 2015’s most complex and major IP disputes.

Article 25 of SPC’S Judicial Interpretation on Trial of Patent Infringment Dispute where products infringing a patent right are used, offered to sell, or sold for production or business purposes without knowing said products were manufactured and sold without the authorization of the patentee, and……