According to Chinese press reports, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee decided to approve the revised patent law on October 17, 2020.

The Legal Daily notes that among the key provisions that are incorporated into the new law are an increase in statutory damages, patent term restoration and early resolution of patent disputes (patent linkage) for pharmaceutical patents, and a newly added “grace period” type provision to address the Covid19 pandemic which permits initial disclosure of inventions for public benefit to address national emergencies without compromising the novelty of an invention in a patent application.