Proposed Amendment to the Patent Law Submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress

August 27, 2008

On August 25, 2008, the Proposed Amendment to the Patent Law (“Amendment”) was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. The Amendment was generally approved on July 30 during the executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao. As indicated during the meeting, the Amendment raised the standard for patentability, added provisions for promoting for patent technologies, by enhancing patent protection while preventing patent misuse so as to achieve a balance between the patentees’ rights and public interests, which fully implemented the rights under international agreements. Under the Legislation Procedure, the Amendment shall be submitted by the State Council to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for deliberation.

The deliberation will be focused on the modification made after February. Compared with the February version, the current Amendment has included the “prior art defense” and “experimental use exception for pharmaceutical products and medical appliances” (the Bolar Exception), deleted provisions on “parallel import” and “frivolous lawsuit compensation,” and consummated the “compulsory license” provision in the original Patent Law.

After the Standing Committee reviews it three times, the Amendment is expected to pass early in 2009.