In a recent move involving both the Chinese legislature (the National People’s Congress) and the executive branch (the State Council), China has overhauled two of its most important pieces of legislation governing inbound IP-related investments. The first major change was the adoption of the new Foreign Investment Law (“FIL”) on 15 March 2019 (full text in Chinese here, English version available upon request). The new FIL will enter into force on 1 January 2020,…

China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) recently circulated its Draft “Provisions on Several Issues concerning the Adjudication of Administrative Cases on Granting and Affirming Patent Rights (I)” (最高人民法院关于审理专利授权确权行政案件若干问题的规定（一）). This Draft aims to address issues concerning administrative court adjudication and Patent Review Board (“PRB”) decisions regarding both patent examination and patent validity. The Provisions apply to: patent grant cases which are court appeals filed by patent applicants that are dissatisfied with the decision handed down by the PRB…

On 12 May 2017, the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (the “CFDA”) issued several draft policies aimed at overhauling of the current regulations governing the Chinese pharma and medical device sector (the “Draft Policies”). Amongst the Draft Policies, those outlined in Circular No.55 would, if implemented, establish a more robust patent linkage system, a more extensive data exclusivity regime and create a Chinese version of the US Orange Book. In this article, we highlight some…