Author：Amy Gong,Li Zhang

Journal：Patent Agency

Publisher：All-China Patent Attorneys Association; China Intellectual Property News

Publication Date：2018(01)

Abstract: With regard to a pending patent with priority, its priority always needs to be verified in the phase of substantive examination, which is not only be considered by examiners but also should be taken into consideration by patent agents and even applicants. Particularly, as for the pending patent with several priorities, there may be a situation that the dependent claims may not be creative even though independent claims are creative as technical solutions of the dependent claims cannot enjoy priority. When developing and patenting technology, applicants should realize the importance of timing relating to patent filing and publication to avoid earlier application being prior art of the subsequent application or conflicting with the subsequent application.