Follow patent developments and distinguish technical protection from trademark and brand questions.
Patent developments can matter to a product launch, collaboration or market assessment. They concern technical subject matter and procedures that differ from trademark protection; an article about one system should not be read as a rule for another.
This is an information topic within the team’s broader intellectual property coverage. Read each report for its jurisdiction, procedural stage and actual outcome. The team’s published service offering remains focused on trademarks and brands.
Questions to consider
Which technology, patent or decision does the report concern?
Is the development an application, procedural step or decided outcome?
What separate trademark or brand question, if any, follows for the business?
The China National Intellectual Property Administration announced on 10 month 21 day that the Fifteenth China International Patent Technology and Products Fair will be held from 11 month 6 day to 8 day, 2026, at the Taihu International Expo Center in Wuxi, Jiangsu, under the theme "Patents Link Innovation, Transformation Releases Value," with 2.2 square meters of exhibition space, 8 exhibition zones, and more than 40 events. This edition highlights transaction attributes and internationalization, and will launch the first intellectual property equity investment fund of 10 billion yuan at the prefecture-level city level nationwide.
On 14, 10, 2026, the Select Committee of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 36 meeting. According to the European Patent Office operational report, since the Unitary Patent system was launched in 6, 2023, approximately 10.8 ten thousand requests for unitary effect have been received, with an average processing time of less than 10 days; the adoption rate among patent proprietors within the EU is close to 44%, and nearly two-thirds of European SMEs seeking patent protection choose the Unitary Patent; the global adoption rate has risen to approximately 31%, higher than 28.7% in 2025 and 25.6% in 2024.
The Supreme People's Court (2024) Judgment No. 931 of the Supreme People's Court (Administrative) clearly establishes: in a drug patent linkage lawsuit, where the patentee amends the claims and the amendment is accepted by the China National Intellectual Property Administration, such that the amended claims no longer constitute the "relevant patent right" referred to in Article seventy-six, paragraph one of the Patent Law, and the generic drug applicant does not agree to use them as the basis for trial, the case loses its basis for continued trial—if it is a civil case, the claims are dismissed by judgment; if it is an administrative adjudication case, only the adjudication is revoked, without an order to re-decide.
In decision T 1254/24, the European Patent Office Board of Appeal dismissed the opponent's appeal and maintained European Patent No. 2 163 423. In its interpretation of feature M 9 of claim 1, the Board held that the slot must be formed in the rigid shell rather than in the cover, and on that basis found the patent novel over the Apollo and Odyssey seats and document D 1.
The World Intellectual Property Organization's "Global Innovation Index 2026" report, themed "Powering Entrepreneurs at the Frontier of Science," covers 139 economies and the world's top hundred innovation clusters. The report shows that since 2000, more than 3 deep tech startups have been founded worldwide, with a combined valuation of 7.6 trillion US dollars, attracting 1220 billion US dollars in venture capital in 2025; of these, 50% hold patents, far above the 15.4% of other startups.
On 2026, 10, 22, the "Executive Yuan" of the Taiwan region of China passed at its 4026th meeting a draft amendment to certain provisions of the "Patent Act", with five key points: computer-generated images and graphical user interfaces may be protected independently as subject matter of design patents; combined filing of similar designs is added; the design patent grace period is extended from 6 months to 12 months; the time limit for filing a divisional application after approval and issuance is relaxed; and the change of the name of the right holder in disputes over ownership of rights is relaxed. The draft will be sent to the legislative body of the Taiwan region for deliberation.
The European Patent Office has disclosed that since the unitary patent was launched in 2023, it has received about 108 000 requests for unitary effect, with the global adoption rate so far at about 31%, and demand from outside Europe has risen noticeably since last year; Unified Patent Court cases continue to grow, and the mediation and arbitration centre has begun delivering services. This article sorts out, from the perspective of Chinese companies expanding overseas: what these operational data indicate, which decision conditions need to be rechecked, and how to maintain portfolio flexibility before the European Commission publishes its first operational report.
The European Patent Office held a quality dialogue meeting with Zebra Technologies, where the two sides exchanged views on direct European applications, the PCT route, national validation, the strengthened partnership, PPH and MyEPO improvements. The "bulk filing of PACE requests" mentioned at the meeting actually went live on 1 10, 2026. This article sorts out the verifiable procedural information, for Chinese companies expanding overseas that plan a European layout to compare application routes and acceleration tools.
The China National Intellectual Property Administration announced on 2026/10/14 that the China–New Zealand Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project has been extended for five years, from 2026/11/1 to 2031/10/31, and that the requirements and procedures for filing PPH requests with the two offices remain unchanged.
The team’s published service scope focuses on trademarks and brands. Coverage of patents or copyright does not by itself describe a separate patent or copyright representation service.
