Chang Tsi & Partners recently hosted an online intellectual property seminar for Singapore Health Services (SingHealth), in coordination with SingHealth's Singapore patent agent, Davies Collison Cave (DCC), providing practical insights into China’s patent system, patent commercialization mechanisms, and customs enforcement. Drawing on data analysis, an overview of the relevant Chinese IP framework, and case studies, the seminar offered overseas companies a practical reference for understanding and making effective use of China's IP protection and commercialization mechanisms. The seminar focused on three key areas: an analysis of SingHealth's patent portfolio in China, China's patent open licensing system, and the practical operation of customs protection for intellectual property rights.

The first session was led by Irene Wang, Head of the firm's Overseas Mechanical and Electrical Patent team, reviewed SingHealth's patent filings in China and the distribution of its patent portfolio across different technology areas. Based on publicly available patent data, SingHealth has built a patent portfolio of meaningful scale in China, concentrated primarily in medical devices and ophthalmology, biopharmaceuticals, and diagnostics and digital healthcare — reflecting a multi-dimensional approach to IP protection spanning technology development, clinical application and digital innovation. The analysis considered the portfolio from multiple perspectives, including patent type, filing trends, technology area and the status of relevant rights.

For international healthcare institutions and technology companies, this type of analysis helps identify which technologies have already secured stable patent protection, which applications remain under examination, and which technology areas may warrant further patent filings in China — providing a basis for subsequent decisions on patent maintenance, commercialization and licensing strategy.

Leslie Xu, Partner at Chang Tsi & Partners and Head of the firm's IP Commercial and Corporate practice, provided an overview of China's patent open licensing system and its practical implications for patent owners. Patent open licensing offers a mechanism through which a patent owner can make an open licensing declaration to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and publish the relevant licensing terms. Potential users may obtain a license by accepting the publicly available terms, creating a more standardized pathway for connecting patent owners with potential licensees. Designed to reduce the cost of information search and negotiation in the licensing process, the system also helps convert idle patents into practical use. Having progressed from regional pilots to nationwide implementation, open licensing has gradually become an important tool for promoting the commercialization of patents in China. For international patent holders, this mechanism offers an additional option for commercializing patent assets in China beyond traditional, individually negotiated licensing arrangements.

Mr. Xu noted that, for overseas rights holders, open licensing offers not only a new channel for patent commercialization, but also raises legal and management considerations that differ from those in traditional, one-to-one licensing negotiations. These include which patents are suitable for open licensing, how royalty rates and other terms should be determined, whether existing licensing arrangements may be affected, and how a declaration should be managed on an ongoing basis once filed — each of which depends on the specific patent assets involved and the rights holder’s broader commercial objectives. The session also compared the relevant Singapore and Chinese systems, and discussed the suitability of different types of patents within SingHealth’s portfolio for open licensing, along with the practical steps involved.

Matt Hou, Head of the firm's Investigation & Enforcement Team, shared insights on China’s customs IP protection system and related enforcement practice. Compared with domestic enforcement avenues such as market investigations, administrative complaints, criminal reporting or civil litigation, customs protection operates at the border — a channel that all import and export goods must pass through — allowing suspected infringing goods to be identified and intercepted before they reach the target market, and covering both import and export flows. Rights holders may record trademarks, patents and copyrights with the General Administration of Customs (GACC); once recorded, customs authorities nationwide may then proactively inspect and intercept suspected infringing goods ex officio. Where a rights holder has already identified a specific shipment, it may also apply directly to the customs office at the relevant port for detention — a route that does not require prior recordal, but does require the rights holder to provide the relevant leads and post security.

Importantly, customs protection is not a standalone enforcement measure. Drawing on specific case examples, the session outlined the full process of customs seizure, investigation and follow-up handling, and examined how information generated during customs enforcement — including inspection records, photographs of the goods, and details of consignors and consignees — can provide valuable evidence to support subsequent civil claims, administrative action or criminal prosecution. Such information is often difficult for rights holders to obtain through domestic market investigations alone.

In practice, to make full use of customs protection, rights holders should not only complete IP recordal, but also establish an effective internal response mechanism. Once customs identifies suspected goods, it will notify the rights holder in writing, who then has just three working days from receipt of the notice to confirm infringement, file a detention application and provide security — a narrow window for action. Rights holders should therefore proactively organize their IP assets, maintain a list of authorized importers, exporters and distributors, and refine the criteria for identifying suspected infringing products, so that they are able to respond and file promptly upon notification. Where a customs interception has already occurred, further investigation, administrative and judicial procedures can help trace the domestic source of the infringing goods, extending enforcement from intercepting individual shipments to disrupting the underlying supply chain.

Leveraging Local Practice Experience to Provide Integrated IP Support for International Businesses

As a leading China-based law firm with intellectual property as its core practice, Chang Tsi & Partners has long served domestic and international companies, as well as research institutions, across the full spectrum of IP work — including patent prosecution, reexamination and invalidation, infringement analysis, patent litigation, and patent operation and licensing. Drawing on each client’s technical profile and commercial objectives, the firm conducts systematic analysis of patent portfolios and develops tailored protection and commercialization strategies. Chang Tsi & Partners also maintains a dedicated investigation and enforcement team, with well-established cooperation and communication channels with China’s major IP enforcement authorities. For complex scenarios involving cross-border e-commerce, import/export trade and supply chain infringement, the firm can coordinate preliminary investigation, evidence preservation, customs protection, administrative enforcement, civil litigation and criminal action based on case-specific leads — helping rights holders build a comprehensive protection system spanning pre-emptive positioning, real-time interception, and post-infringement accountability.

For international companies entering the Chinese market, conducting R&D activities in China, or seeking to further activate their Chinese patent assets, patent filing or IP recordal alone is increasingly insufficient to meet real commercial needs. Extending patent portfolio management to open licensing, technology commercialization and infringement risk control — while effectively connecting customs, administrative, civil and criminal protection mechanisms — is becoming an important consideration in cross-border IP management. Going forward, Chang Tsi & Partners will continue to draw on its local legal practice and professional expertise to provide international businesses with more systematic and precise China IP legal services, while further deepening professional exchange with international companies — providing a platform for sharing China IP practice experience and advancing cross-border innovation cooperation.