Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao presides over the Executive Meeting of the State Council on July 30, 2008, examining and adopting in principle the Amendment of Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (draft). The meeting points out that the current Patent Law should be amended so as to increase China’s capacity of independent innovation, construct an innovative country, encourage the promotion and utilization of technologies and exercise the rights endowed by international conventions participated in by China. The meeting decides that the draft should be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) after further modification.

China’s current Patent Law comes into effect on April 1, 1985 and is amended in 1992 and 2000. For more than 20 years, the implementation of the Patent Law plays an important role in encouraging invention and creation and promoting China’s scientific and technological progress and its economic and social development. However, China’s patent system also faces new tasks and challenges against the background of constant improvement and development of China’s socialism market-oriented economic system, the deepening of economic globalization and the increasingly fierce international competition. After taking into consideration these conditions, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council put forward new requirements to the improvement and development of China’s patent system.

In order to bring the roles of the patent system into full play so as to supply solider support and guarantee for the improvement of China’s socialism market-oriented economy and the construction of an innovative country, SIPO formally starts the third modification work of the Patent Law in the first half of 2005. In order to fully implement the requirements of scientific and democratic legislation and make the modification work reflect the demands of social development, SIPO mobilizes all walks of life to participate in the modification work of Patent Law, and finishes a large amount of basic research work. It completes 40 special research reports, totaling 2.6 million Chinese characters. In August 2006, SIPO carefully sums up the experience during the more than 20 years’ implementation of the Patent Law on the basis of the fruits of the special research reports and formulates Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (modified draft for opinion solicitation) and its explanation to widely solicit opinions from all walks of life. Meanwhile, the modified draft is also publicized at the SIPO governmental website to publicly invite suggestions from home and abroad. From August to October 2006, SIPO holds a series of symposiums to listen to the opinions and suggestions to the modified draft. On this basis, SIPO modifies the opinion solicitation draft and formulates the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (modified draft for approval) and submits it to the State Council for examination on December 27, 2006.

After receiving the modified draft for approval, the Legislative Affairs Office (LAO) of the State Council launches a large amount of works such as research, suggestion invitation and discussion. It solicits opinions from 72 central departments and units, 35 local people’s governments, 14 local courts, more than 20 enterprises and public institutions and over 50 experts and scholars. Meanwhile, it receives suggestions from foreign governmental organs, enterprise guilds and international organizations, investigates into patent work of enterprises, patent administrative law enforcement of local governments and patent case trials of local courts in Guangdong Province and other regions, and holds two international symposiums to discuss a series of important problems. During the period of time, SIPO actively supports the work of the State Council LAO and fully participates in all the symposiums and investigations. On the basis, State Council LAO repeatedly researches and modifies the draft for approval and enacts the Amendment to Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (draft) for the executive meeting of the State Council.

The Amendment to Patent Law (draft) increases the threshold of patent grant, newly adds the provisions of encouraging the promotion and utilization of patented technologies, strengthens the protection to patent rights, prevents right abuse of patent holders to balance the patent holder’s interests and the public interests of the society, and fully exercises the rights endowed by international conventions participated in by China. According to the Legislation Law, the State Council will submit the amendment draft to the NPC Standing Committee for examination and discussion. After three rounds of discussions, the Amendment to the Patent Law is expected to be adopted in the first half of 2009.