4? 6 Modification of patent documents in invalidation procedure
4? 6? 1 revised principles
The modification of the patent document for invention or utility model is limited to the claims, and its principle is:
(1) The title of the original claim shall not be changed.
(2) Compared with the authorized claim, the protection scope of the original patent shall not be expanded.
(3) It shall not exceed the scope recorded in the original specification and claims.
(4) In general, technical features not included in the authorization claim shall not be added.
The patentee of a design patent may not modify its patent documents.
4? 6? 2 modification method
On the premise of meeting the above-mentioned modification principles, the specific ways to modify the claims are generally limited to the deletion and merger of claims and the deletion of technical solutions.
The deletion of claims refers to the deletion of one or more claims from the claims, such as independent claims or dependent claims.
The combination of claims refers to the combination of two or more claims that are not related to each other but belong to the same independent claim in the text of authorization announcement. In this case, the technical features of the merged dependent claims are combined to form a new claim. The new claim shall contain all the technical features of the merged subordinate claims. In the case that the independent claim has not been modified, it is not allowed to modify its subordinate claims in a combined way.
Deleting a technical solution means deleting one or more technical solutions from two or more technical solutions juxtaposed in the same claim.
4? 6? 3. Limitations of modification methods
Before the Patent Reexamination Board makes an examination decision, the patentee may delete the claim or the technical scheme contained in the claim.
The patentee can only modify the claim through merger within the defense period of the following three situations:
(1) Invalid declaration request.
(2) Supplementary reasons for invalidation or supplementary evidence against the claimant.
(3) The reasons or evidence for invalidation put forward by the Patent Reexamination Board not mentioned by the claimant.