Bonum Certa Men Certa

Giants of Asia: India More Restrictive on Patent Scope, China More Lenient

With a combined population greater than a third of the world's population

Buddha



Summary: India and China are moving in somewhat opposite directions when it comes to patents, as one realises their impact on people whereas the other chooses to repeat the mistake made by the United States (patent maximalism for corporate gains)

TECHRIGHTS spent over a decade writing about the USPTO and about as long writing about the EPO, especially when President Brimelow made mistakes "as such". Patent scope is a crucial decision which impacts many sectors in a country; it's simply misguided to believe or to think that more patents would translate into more innovation and commonwealth. It doesn't work that way.

The latest IAM Weekly newspaper says in the "Editor's round-up" that "we wondered whether one of India’s leading IT companies has all but abandoned software patents, looked at a patent-driven rapprochement between InterDigital and Huawei, and explained why Asian investors are sinking their money into IP management businesses."

"Patent scope is a crucial decision which impacts many sectors in a country; it's simply misguided to believe or to think that more patents would translate into more innovation and commonwealth."We covered all of these (in recent days) and IAM has just published this "international report" about India, where software patents continue to be disallowed (excellent policy, which is routinely under fire from foreign multinationals, not domestic giants).

India got its balance right on patents (also when it comes to medicine, not just software), so why is China going the other way? This is already harming some of its own industry and attracts a great deal of trolls (making nothing and trying to extort everyone for money).

According to this new article from IAM, "IP analytics start-up PatSnap has closed its Series C funding with investments from Sequoia Capital’s China arm and Beijing’s Shunwei Capital Partners. The deal further underlines Asia-Pacific investors’ growing interest in IP management and strategy services."

"Lack of quality control at SIPO leads to a false sense of growth, as is the case at the EPO under Battistelli where old files are pulled out and rubber-stamped for fake growth or illusion of growing demand, clout, etc."This shows yet more of that obsession with patents, even in domains that require none of them. Companies that produce nothing want to make money and they are essentially a kind of trolling industry -- like that which threatens to expand in Europe if the UPC ever becomes a reality.

Based on IP Kat's Tian Lu, there was some UPC propaganda in the EU-China IP Forum earlier this month [1, 2]. To quote a portion from the second part: "This panel on specialist IP courts also saw some optimism from Pierre Veron (member of the Drafting Committee of the Rules of Procedure of the Unified Patent Court and now a member of the group of experts advising the Preparatory Committee of the UPC), who expressed the view that even without UK participation post-Brexit, the other participating Member States of the EU would press ahead with the UPC project in the long term and would seek to ensure that the UPC will be a success."

We are going to deal with UPC in a separate post, but let's just say that it's troubling to see these overlaps between China and Europe and it's not because of fear of China (Chinophobia) but because of SIPO.

"China is fast becoming a hotbed of litigation and it already 'exports' such litigation to other countries (many reports on that these days)."Lack of quality control at SIPO leads to a false sense of growth, as is the case at the EPO under Battistelli where old files are pulled out and rubber-stamped for fake growth or illusion of growing demand, clout, etc. The SIPO examiners, as many professionals out there will agree/can attest to, just grant a lot of patents composed in Mandarin right and left. There are two new reports, one from MIP and another from IP Watch, which amplify SIPO's propaganda, citing a WIPO report. Some Chinese patents that are counted at the EPO are not even translated into a European language, let alone examined/validated for their quality, yet here we have another repetition of the misleading claim that China ‘leads’ by having a crappy patent office that accepts crap applications. If one was to judge the USPTO similarly (over 10 million patents and counting), the EPO would look rather bad.

If only China adopted a saner approach to patenting (like in India), the world's high-tech industries would be better off. China is fast becoming a hotbed of litigation and it already 'exports' such litigation to other countries (many reports on that these days). This problem is likely to become more apparent in the coming years.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
 
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025