Educational and Training Content to Advance Your IP Knowledge

On February 6, 2026, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released a batch of intellectual property enforcement cases for 2025 (市场监管总局公布一批知识产权执法典型案例). SAMR provides an administrative route for the enforcement of intellectual property in China in addition to civil and criminal enforcement mechanisms. SAMR stated that these cases were released to “fully demonstrate the firm […]

On February 6, 2026, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released five typical cases of unfair competition in the field of artificial intelligence (市场监管总局公布五起人工智能领域不正当竞争典型案例). SAMR provides an administrative route for the enforcement of intellectual property in China in addition to civil and criminal enforcement mechanisms. SAMR released these cases to “effectively guide business entities […]

On January 28, 2026, the Intellectual Property Court (IPC) of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the 2025 Annual Report of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court (最高人民法院知识产权法庭年度报告).  The Report included a statistics section reproduced below. The IPC received 449 new cases in 2025 involving foreign parties and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, accounting for 16.9% […]

On February 6, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released three decisions revoking the operating licenses for three Chinese patent firms for fabricating partners.  Per CNIPA,  the actual controllers of the firms involved, in order to obtain a patent agency license, agreed with patent agents to act as nominal partners, paying them “license-hanging fees.” […]

On January 28, 2026, the Intellectual Property Court (IPC) of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the 2025 Annual Report of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court (最高人民法院知识产权法庭年度报告).  The Reported highlighted some IP infringement cases as well as provided statistics on caseloads and verdicts. Punitive damages are being award more regularly, but […]

Over 1400 people in the 1970s and 1980s were implanted with pacemakers that were powered by nuclear batteries.  Follow-up studies of these people indicated that their pacemakers functioned well and were not responsible for any detrimental effect to the recipients.  Yet, despite this success, the last nuclear-powered pacemaker was implanted in 1988.  In this engaging […]

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will be closed February 15, 2026 to February 23, 2026 for the Lunar New Year (Spring Festival). Note, to compensate, CNIPA will be open  on February 14 (Saturday)  and February 28 (Saturday).  Patent deadlines are postponed to the next following non-weekend workday. Other closure dates for 2026 Chinese holidays […]

China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has recently released full year statistics for 2025. Overall grants (including invention, utility model and design patents) were down 16.18% compared to 2024.  Invention patent grants were down 7%, utility model patent grants were down 27.28% and design patent grants were up 3.56%. While no official reason was given […]

On January 23, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) held a press conference summarizing their intellectual property work in 2025. Of note, a total of about 972,000 invention patents, about 1,461,000 utility model patents, and about 666,000 design patents were granted in 2025. This represents a roughly 7% drop in invention patent grants from […]

On January 8, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Guidelines on Trademark Registration for Industrial Cluster Brands and Regional Brands (关于产业集群品牌和区域品牌申请注册商标的指引).  The Guidelines explain acceptable use of place names for collective trademarks and certification trademarks. Generally, place names of administrative divisions at or above the county level cannot be used as trademarks. […]

On January 7, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Excerpt from the Work Report at the 2026 National Intellectual Property Office Directors’ Conference (2026年全国知识产权局局长会议工作报告（摘编）). The Excerpt details IP achievements made during the 14th Five-Year Plan (running from 2021-2025) and lists key key tasks for 2026 including improving examination quality, conducting a rectification […]

Robert Hirning will present the next episode of the AI-Driven Innovation in Medical Technologies webinar series, when he presents “Patent Eligibility Challenges” on February 19. Marvin Beekman will moderate. In this presentation, Robert will discuss challenges in obtaining patents on AI-based medical technology, including patent eligibility and disclosure concerns for AI-related MedTech inventions in the US […]