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State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) Announces Graphical User Interface (GUI) Related Design Becomes Patentable Subject Matter as of May 1, 2014

State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) Announces Graphical User Interface (GUI) Related Design Becomes Patentable Subject Matter as of May 1, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014

Recently announced by the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), graphical user interface (GUI) design patent applications will be accepted beginning on May 1, 2014. Revised on March 17, 2014, the amended Patent Examination Guidelines will now include provision for GUI on an electrified device screen as patentable matter, including dynamic or animated GUI. The new standards will exclude applications not related to human-machine interaction, leaving video game interfaces, decoration wallpapers, and web page layouts unprotected under the revised examination guidelines. This change from SIPO comes as increasingly more devices across numerous industries are relying heavily on GUI innovation.

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