On July 19, the China National Intellectual Property Administration ("CNIPA") released the Official Reply on Relevant Issues concerning the Application for Suspension in Patent Infringement Dispute Cases (the "Reply").

The Reply clarifies the following issues: (1) the notice on the acceptance of the request for invalidation is a necessary condition for the law enforcement and case handling department to suspend the case; (2) the receipt of submission of relevant electronic documents and the payment voucher cannot prove that the request for invalidation has been accepted. The Reply notes that, firstly, the receipt of submission of relevant electronic documents only represents that the CNIPA has received relevant electronic documents submitted by the requesting party; secondly, pursuant to the provisions on patent reexamination, and the review for request for invalidation stipulated in Articles 60 and 66 of the Implementing Rules of the Patent Law, upon receiving the letter on the request for reexamination or invalidation, the CNIPA shall carry out formal examination, which covers the object of the requesting party, its qualifications, the scope of the request for invalidation, the reasons and evidence, among others. If relevant conditions are not met, the request for reexamination or invalidation will be deemed as unacceptable or deemed to have not been submitted. In general, such formal examination will be carried out after the requesting party pays relevant fees.

(Source: China National Intellectual Property Administration)