[Article / Chinese Patents] Support requirements for numerical-range limitations in China (Chunfeng Hu and Jun Lin, Patent, September 2025)
<Supreme People's Court of China, (2020) 最高法知行終407> 1. Consideration of the Supreme Court judgment Patent: A numerically limited invention combining charge cut-off voltage (over 4.2 V up to 5.8 V) and positive/negative electrode ratio (1:1.0–1:2.5).
[Article / Patents] Points to note when filing food-use inventions in different countries (Biotechnology and Life Sciences Committee, Patent, December 2025)
In Japan, the 2016 revision of the Examination Guidelines strengthened protection for food-use inventions, but overseas, national laws and examination practices differ greatly. 1. Permissible claims ① US: Product-use inventions are not recognized; draft as methods. A use in the preamble often has no limiting effect.
[Article / Chinese patents] Points to note when claiming priority in China—focusing on a Chinese Supreme Court judgment (Jun Lin, Chunfeng Hu, Patent, December 2023)
Chinese Supreme Court, (2019) 最高法行申 No. 12487 1. Case outline The application was rejected for lack of novelty (self-collision) based on earlier application 134.
![[Article / Chinese and US designs] Points to note in international design applications designating China and the United States (Design Committee, Patent, April 2025)](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/324a18_06e1b8f624a04badbe164eee0a351525~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_962,h_724,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/324a18_06e1b8f624a04badbe164eee0a351525~mv2.png)
![[Article / Chinese and US designs] Points to note in international design applications designating China and the United States (Design Committee, Patent, April 2025)](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/324a18_06e1b8f624a04badbe164eee0a351525~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_962,h_724,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/324a18_06e1b8f624a04badbe164eee0a351525~mv2.png)
[Article / Chinese and US designs] Points to note in international design applications designating China and the United States (Design Committee, Patent, April 2025)
1. Points to note when designating the United States Design patent practice: In the United States, designs are protected under patent law, so claim clarity is given extremely high importance. If the original drawings are unclear, an amendment adding shading later carries a high risk of being regarded as adding new matter.
Legal Update (Items Posted in January 2026)
A review of 34 articles published in January 2026 by attorney Hideki Takaishi, covering divisional applications, invalidity arguments, claim interpretation, international jurisdiction, standard-essential patents and employee inventions.
