There are two main situations in which the specification is amended, one is the amendment to the defects in the specification that do not comply with the provisions of the Patent Law and its implementing rules, and the other is the adaptive modification based on the amended claims, which are allowed as long as they do not exceed the scope of the original description and the claims.
The permissible modification of the specification and its summary includes the following situations.
1) Amend the title of the invention so that it accurately and concisely reflects the title of the subject matter for which protection is claimed. If the type of independent claims includes products, processes and uses, the subject matter of these claims should all be reflected in the title of the invention. The title of the invention should be as short as possible, generally not exceeding 25 words, and in exceptional cases, for example, certain patent applications in the field of chemistry, a maximum of 40 words may be allowed.
2) Modify the technical field to which the invention belongs. The technical field refers to the technical field reflected in the classification position of the invention in the International Patent Classification. In order to facilitate a clear understanding of the invention and its corresponding prior art by the public and examiners, it should be permissible to modify the technical field to which the invention belongs so that it is relevant to the field covered by the lowest classification position in the IPC.
and 3) modify the background art to make it appropriate to the subject matter for which protection is claimed. If the independent claims are drafted in accordance with the provisions of Article 21 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law, the background art part of the description shall record the contents related to the prior art described in the preamble of the independent claims, and cite the documents reflecting these background art. If, through search, the examiner finds a comparative document that is closer to the subject matter of the claim than the prior art cited by the applicant in the original specification, the applicant should be allowed to amend the description to add the contents of the document to this part and cite the document, while deleting the description of the irrelevant prior art. It should be noted that such an amendment would in effect add to the description elements not contained in the claims and description of the original application, but it is permissible because the amendment relates only to the background art and not to the invention itself, and the addition is prior art that was already known prior to the filing date.
4) Modify the content of the invention content related to the technical problem solved by the invention so that it is compatible with the subject matter of the claim, that is, reflect the technical problem solved by the technical solution of the invention relative to the closest prior art. Of course, the revised content should not go beyond the scope of the original description and claims.
5) Modify the content related to the technical solution of the invention in the part of the invention content to make it suitable for the subject matter of the independent claim for protection. If the independent claims have been amended in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Law and its implementing rules, that part is allowed to be amended accordingly;If the independent claims are not modified, it is allowed to make modifications to the part such as straightening out the text, correcting the non-standard wording, and unifying the technical terminology on the basis of not changing the original technical solution.
6) Modify the content of the invention in relation to the beneficial effects of the invention. Appropriate modifications to the beneficial effects of the invention are permitted only if the technical feature(s) are clearly stated in the original application document and their beneficial effects are not clearly mentioned, but a person skilled in the art can directly and without doubt infer such effects from the original application documents.