The Dilemmas and Breakthroughs in the Operation of China’s Patent Validity Examination System

Abstract

The patent validity examination system serves the dual function of correcting improper grants and maintaining the stability of patent rights. China's current dual-track framework of "administrative confirmation plus judicial review" faces dilemmas including lengthy proceedings and circular litigation, the binary separation of civil and administrative proceedings, and the strategic abuse of invalidation procedures. Drawing on the inter partes review in the United States, the bifurcated system in Germany, and the invalidation trial system in Japan, and integrating these with the institutional environment following the fourth amendment to China's Patent Law, this paper proposes three pathways: optimizing the interface between civil and administrative proceedings, governing circular litigation through substantive examination, and regulating procedural abuse via the principle of good faith, so as to achieve a dynamic balance between the stability of rights and the timeliness of error correction.