Updated November 27, 2020

Patent evaluation is when a report is done by the State Intellectual Property Office to see if a specific design patent or utility model fits the granting conditions that are set by the Implementing Regulations of the Chinese Patent Law and the Chinese Patent Law. These reports get issued before a prior art search and happen when the interested party or patentee requests it. These evaluation reports are only applicable to design and utility model patents. Invention patents don't count, as they've already gone under a thorough exam before they get granted.

Why Request a Patent Evaluation Report?

The interested party or the patentee can request the patent evaluation report. If more than one party requests it for an identical design or utility model patent, only one patent evaluation report will be made. In a design or utility model patent infringement case, it's common for the defendant to start a patient invalidation procedure on the patent that's relevant in front of the Patent Reexamination Board. They can also ask that the court suspends operations of the suit. This is unable to happen if the patentee has a patent evaluation report that supports the patent's validity.

A patent evaluation report is created to confirm a design patent or utility model. The patentee may request the report to get proof of the inventiveness and novelty of the patent. This report may be used as proof in the People's Court as well as at a local patent office to review when there are disputes regarding patent infringement. The patent evaluation report may also be used to get specific remedies. As an example, a patentee might want to block products that violate the patent from being sold internationally.

They can record the patent with the Chinese General Administration of Customs so the items won't leave China. The report is also helpful to figure out if the patent might be invalidated or to see if the patent being exploited might infringe the patent rights for the third parties.

Steps in Evaluating a Patent

One of the most crucial parts of the patent evaluation is seeing if the patent allows the person who filed the patent the option to claim exclusive rights to their item. They might have a patent that gives the patent exclusive rights to a type of technology that can be copied, but not duplicated. This is often in the person's best interest to do several evaluations at the same time. An example of this would be where the products and technologies are comparable to each other.

Another thing to consider during the patent evaluation process is if the company that wants to promote the idea has adequate resources to put the product on the market. They may have a good idea, but that doesn't mean they're able to see it through based on the available resources. The company might not be able to carry the implementation out and get the product marketed.

Various factors or qualities need to be looked at when considering investing in a patent, including the following:

  • How big the patent family is.
  • How much competition there is for identical products with identical patents.
  • How long the patent has survived for.

If the original inventor has exclusive patent rights for a decent period of time, there may be a good chance that the product is a proprietary and exclusive advancement of technology that should be looked into for further consideration and possible investment. If an opposition has been filed to the patent, it will also need to be considered in addition to what the outcome of the opposition could be.

What Are the Types of Citation?

Citation analysis has been used regularly for a few decades to evaluate what the quality of a patent is and see how patents possibly impact their competition and the world as a whole. Forward citations an artifact derived from reverse citations and depend on what the point of view is. Backward citations are based on the 892 and 1449 forms in the United States as well as other related forms from different jurisdictions. They give examples of the related art that currently exists.

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