SPC Revokes Corning's Utility Model Patent Over Patent Eligibility
July 31, 2025——The Supreme People's Court (SPC) mentioned a recent case on its official WeChat today where a patent was declared invalid due to the patent eligibility.
In China, unlike under 35 U.S.C. § 101 of US, relatively few patents are declared invalid over patent eligibility.However, this case is rather special. The owner of the patent (ZL201621360437.7) is Corning Incorporated.
Corning first filed an application for this invention in the United States in 2015, and in 2016, it filed a patent application in China while claiming priority from the U.S. application.
Moreover, when submitting patent applications in China, Corning not only filed three invention patents but also applied for a utility model patent (the present patent).
In China, an invention patent is equivalent to a utility patent in the United States, whereas the utility model patent, drawing on Germany's patent system, is established for minor inventions and small innovations. As such, this system strictly limits the types of applications: the subject matter to be protected must simultaneously meet three elements—being a product, having a shape and/or structure, and embodying a technical solution. If the claims of a utility model patent application fail to satisfy any of these elements, they do not fall within the eligibility protected by utility model patents.
The dispute in this case centers precisely on the glass-based products claimed in Corning's patent claims. Specifically, certain technical features, such as the stress distribution of heat-tempered glass, as defined in the claims, do not qualify as product, shape, and/or structure.
Therefore, in its 2020 invalidity decision, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) ruled that Corning's patent was entirely invalid for failing to conform to the required patent eligibility.
Subsequently, Corning filed a lawsuit and appealed all the way to the SPC. The SPC upheld CNIPA's invalidity decision and the first-instance judgment, holding that the technical features defined in Corning's claims do not constitute product, shape, and/or structure, thus revoking the patent.
Since Corning has filed a series of patent applications in China, the invalidation of this utility model patent will likely not affect its patent rights and interests in China.
SPC judgement:
PRIP(Wechat):
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/fm0DY9Wi5iooI9gfGe8dcg?poc_token=HDdZi2ijJSFzU2o8egbNxlP66Ha0agkZj_c1eoiy