Regulated by Article 27 of the 2021 Revised Chinese Patent Law and CNIPA Partial Design
Examination Guidelines, partial design is a core innovation of China’s industrial design
patent system after 2021. A well-documented real case of a European small home appliance
brand’s invalidation fully exposes two fatal filing defects for overseas designers:
ambiguous solid/dashed line demarcation of protected partial features leads to unclear
protection scope and failure to submit complete six orthographic views of the whole
product. This judgment issued by the Patent Reexamination Board (PRB) reveals common
filing mistakes of foreign enterprises and delivers standardized drawing drafting rules for
partial design applications.
A German portable blender manufacturer filed a partial design patent (Patent No. ZL2022306
17891.X) in 2023, only claiming protection for the blender’s ergonomic grip handle. The
applicant submitted fragmented partial close-up drawings without complete six-side views of
the full blender body, and the dashed lines marking unprotected parts were inconsistent and
overlapping on multiple perspectives. A domestic competitor filed full invalidation in 2024,
arguing the design could not be clearly defined for comparison against prior art. During
oral hearings, PRB examiners held that the incomplete whole product views and chaotic
solid/dashed line layout violated Article 27 requirements for clear disclosure of the claimed
design. Since the protected partial structure’s relative position inside the whole product could
not be confirmed, the patent was entirely invalidated. The German enterprise spent over
120,000 RMB on re-drawing, re-filing and administrative litigation, and lost 14 months of
exclusive appearance protection in China’s small home appliance market.
Mandatory full product six views for all partial design filings (CNIPA Partial Design Guideline
Chapter 2). No matter which partial component is claimed, applicants must provide standard front,
rear, left, right, top and bottom orthographic drawings of the complete product. Pure partial
close-up pictures without overall product outlines are formally rejected during preliminary
examination or fully invalidated post-grant. Solid lines represent protected partial features;
dashed lines must uniformly draw all unprotected product parts without overlap or blurring.
Absolute clarity standard for partial protection boundary (Patent Law Article 27). If solid/dashed
lines are disordered, cross or fail to distinguish partial and whole parts, the protection scope is
deemed undetermined. Third parties can easily file invalidation, and PRB will support revocation
because the design cannot be compared with existing public designs.
Maximum 10 similar partial designs per single application (Implementing Regulation Rule 40). One
partial design application may contain up to 10 similar variants based on one basic partial shape;
exceeding the limit triggers office actions requiring divisional filings.
No conversion from utility model to partial design after filing. Partial designs belong to the design
patent category, and cross-type amendment or conversion is prohibited once the application is
accepted by CNIPA.
Hague System partial design special rules. Foreign enterprises filing Hague international designs to
designate China must follow identical solid/dashed drawing standards as domestic filings; WIPO’s
simple partial sketch format does not satisfy CNIPA’s full six-view requirement and will generate
formal objections after entering China’s national phase.
China’s partial design patent clarity requirement under Article 27 raises strict drawing
standards for overseas industrial designers. This German blender partial design invalidation case
fully proves incomplete full-product views and disordered solid/dashed lines result in complete
patent nullification. For global consumer electronics brands developing localised appearance
products in China, standardised six-view drawings and standard solid/dashed demarcation are
irreplaceable safeguards to stabilise partial design patent validity against third-party invalidation.
Hyperlink List：
● CNIPA Official Partial Design Examination Guideline:
https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2021/06/01/art_2651_166758.html
● WIPO Lex Full English 2021 China Patent Law Article 27:
