ABSTRACT
The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement sets down the minimum standards for patent protection and provides the principle of flexibility so that the protection measures, including principles, can best be interpreted to fit each signatory country’s domestic legislation based on their unique judicial practice, cultural background and economic development stage. Although not a TRIPS member until 2001, China amended its patent legislation based on the spirit of the TRIPS Agreement between 1992 and 2000. In both China and the US countries, invention patents must be novel, creative and of industrial applicability. A patent may be challenged for invalidity on the grounds of prior art or insufficient disclosure in both countries. Both the European Patent Convention (EPC) and Chinese patent law set down restrictions on patentability in relation to ‘animal or plant varieties’, although the measures imposed by the EPC are stricter. Priority right is granted under different scenarios under EPC and Chinese patent law.
