Computer Implemented Inventions in CNIPA and the EPO - Recent Developments of Examination Practice

With the 2020 Amendment, CNIPA opened up a new horizon for the examination practice of CII applications. To begin with, the 2020 Amendment explicitly states that any patent claims related to abstract algorithms or business rules, insofar as they contain technical features, shall not be excluded from patent protection under Chinese Patent Law Article 25(2).

Further, claims directed to abstract algorithms or business rules may be regarded as a “technical solution” under Chinese Patent Law Article 2(2), hence eligible for patent protection, provided that the relevant technical means solves a technical problem by utilising the law of the nature.

The 2020 Amendment also introduces a new approach for examining the inventive step of an invention with respect to its algorithm and business rule features. Specifically, algorithm and business rule features having “mutually supportive functions” and an “interactive relationship” with other technical features in a claim shall be considered, in addition to the technical features, when accessing the contributions of the invention to the state of the art.

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