On November 13, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Decision of the CNIPA on Revising the Guidelines for Patent Examination.

The revisions clarify the relationship between patent protection and the new plant variety protection; provides examples of rejections based on social, public interest in illegality rationales; provides examples for examination of bitstream and artificial intelligence applications; requires abandonment of a utility model patent before granting of a corresponding invention patent application; ends straw man filings of invalidation requests; clarifies priority claims in divisional applications; and more. Revised Guidelines for Patent Examination Effective January 1, 2026.

                                                                                                           Source. www. cnipa.gov.cn