Patent Applicants Cannot Obtain Additional Procedural Benefits from Non-Compliant Amendments

WISECODE Take

Many companies falsely assume patent division can be used to endlessly prolong examination procedures whenever a lack of unity issue is raised by examiners. The Supreme People's Court of China drew a clear line in case (2026) Supreme People's Court IP Final No. 392. After receiving a grant notice for its original patent on March 3, 2021, Jiao Co. attempted to file a second divisional application on June 11, 2024 by deliberately introducing improper, out-of-time claim amendments to trigger a unity defect. The court ruled that unlawful modifications cannot yield additional procedural benefits and deemed the application not submitted. This signals that businesses cannot manufacture passive divisional opportunities through invalid amendments; however, companies filing divisionals within the standard 2-month window after grant remain entirely unaffected. Chidian's 'Patent Portfolio Health Check' helps businesses precisely delineate tech targets during the golden pre-grant window to prevent loss of rights due to timing errors. Businesses should take two clear steps: first, strictly monitor divisional timelines, completing voluntary divisionals within two months of grant notice; second, submit voluntary amendments strictly within allowed statutory windows during substantive examination to avoid procedural invalidity.