China continues to improve patent application procedures

China will also continuously improve its efficiency and quality of patent application reviews as a new guideline to streamline procedures of applying for patents will take effect next month, an official from the country's top intellectual property regulator said on Tuesday.

In addition, more efforts will be made in reviewing patents involving new fields and emerging businesses, including those on big data, artificial intelligence and gene technology, according to Wei Baozhi, head for patent examination and management of the patent department with the China National Intellectual Property Administration.

He told a news conference that the measures are also required by the newly revised rules for the implementation of the Patent Law.

The 149-article rules have been released by the State Council, China's cabinet, on Dec 11, and will take effect on Jan 20.

"Making new specific rules to implement the Patent Law is not only to advance the country's high-quality development but also to meet new economic, social and public demand," Wei said.

With stronger support for core technologies, he revealed that the approach of reviewing patent applications will be more diverse and services for helping innovators apply for patents will also to be more convenient and efficient in line with the new rules.

To encourage innovation and stimulate technological development, the administration has stepped up efforts to accelerate the review of invention patent applications over the past few years, he said, adding that the average period of such review has been shortened to 16 months, shorter than that in the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Highlighting the protection of patents, Shen Changyu, head of the administration, said that the new rules have also focused on the issue by giving more specifics on mediating patent disputes and compensation.