Author: Jirui ZHENG

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has released a revised version of the Patent Examination Guidelines, published on November 13, 2025 and scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026. This update introduces several important adjustments to China’s patent invalidation procedures. Below is a summary of the most notable changes.

1. Eligibility for Filing Invalidation Requests

According to the new Guideline, the CNIPA requires that all invalidation requests be filed based on the petitioner’s genuine intent. Any requests submitted without real intention will not be accepted.

To verify the petitioner’s genuine intent, the patent invalidation board may request the petitioner to appear in person for verification or submit supporting documentation, if deemed necessary.

Importantly, this requirement concerns only the petitioner’s true intent, and does not intend to restrict the type of entities who can file the patent invalidation request. Thus, using strawman as petitioner remain permissible.

2. Expanded Definition of “Same Grounds and Evidence”

The new Guidelines expand the definition of the “res judicata” principle from “identical grounds and evidence” to “identical or substantively identical grounds and evidence”.

This change aims to curb repetitive invalidation filings that differ only slightly in grounds or rely on substantially identical evidence. By doing so, the CNIPA intends to reduce procedural abuse and conserve administrative and judicial resources.

3. Updated Rules for Claim Amendments

For amendments filed during patent invalidation proceedings, the new Guideline provides some clarification on both formatting and procedures of amendments:

  lPatentees must submit full replacement claim pages together with a comparison table showing the claim amendments. 

  lIf multiple amendments are submitted during a patent invalidation proceeding, only the last version will be examined by the board.

This is a brief summary of all the changes in the new patent examination guideline, and will take effect on January 1, 2026. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at patent@foundin.cn.