Revised Draft Patent Law Released for Comment

On December 2, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council released for public comment theRevised Draft of the Patent Law (Draft for Review) with a comment deadline of January 1, 2016.

The Revised Draft contains material changes in 33 articles, and one new chapter entitled "Exploitation and Application of Patents". Key amendments include:

• Greater patent protection via enhancing punishment for infringement
• Promoting exploitation and application of patents to realize their value;
• Implementing statutory requirements of governmental functions;
• Improving the patent review system;
• Improving the legal systems concerning patent agents.

USITO had previously submitted comments on an earlier draft released by the State Intellectual Property Office in April, and is now collecting comments on this Revised Draft.