China raises the inventiveness bar for artificial intelligence patents

2026-01-01CNIPA

Amended Patent Examination Guidelines, China National Intellectual Property Administration Order No. 84, issued 10 November 2025, effective 1 January 2026

The amended guidelines state that changing only the application scenario or the target object of an existing artificial intelligence algorithm does not establish an inventive step. An applicant must show meaningful changes to model structure, parameters, training methods or technical effects. Disclosure requirements were tightened at the same time: a specification must describe the model architecture including modules, layers and connections, the training steps and key parameters, and the technical relationship between the input and the output data. Examiners may examine the description alongside the claims. The guidelines also permit rejection on public policy grounds where an invention involves unlawful collection or use of personal data, or algorithmic decision-making on discriminatory criteria.

What it changesChina has arrived at the Federal Circuit's central point from the opposite direction. Applying a known model to a new field is not enough in either country. For a family filed in the United States, Europe and China, the model architecture and the training description have to sit in the priority document, because none of the three offices will let that material be added afterwards.

← All recent developments · Full archive

This is general information about a published decision, agency guidance or piece of legislation. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Items concerning offices outside the United States are reported for information only and are not counsel on the law of those countries.