Recently, the General Affairs Office of the State Intellectual Property Office has issued the Circular on Improving the Handling of Disputes over Patent Ownership (the "Circular").
The Circular sets out requirements in five aspects, namely, case filing with strict conditions, fast mediation, timely communication, voluntary disclosure, and supervision and guidance. Specifically, the Circular provides that where no agreement is reached upon mediation for a case, the case shall be closed by withdrawal and a Notice on Terminating Mediation for Patent-related Dispute(s). To settle disputes over patent ownership, the authorities administering patent affairs shall, in principle, close the relevant cases within two months; under extremely complicated circumstances where more time is needed, the said time limit shall be extended upon approval of the heads of the said authorities, with a period of no longer than one month. The Circular also specifies that an authority administering patent affairs that is responsible for mediating a dispute over patent ownership shall, within 20 working days upon conclusion of the case, voluntarily disclose the relevant information in accordance with the law; the contents to be disclosed are regulated as well, with prohibition on making mediation items and materials public.