The time scale for determining novelty is divided by the date of application, but Article 24 of the Chinese Patent Law provides for the following three exceptions:

1. Inventions or creations that are first exhibited at international exhibitions hosted or recognized by the Chinese government and have applied for patents within six months from the date of exhibition may be considered not to have lost their novelty. International exhibitions hosted by the Chinese government, including those organized by the State Council, various ministries and commissions, or approved by other agencies or local governments.

2. An invention or creation first published at a designated academic or technical conference and applied for a patent within six months after publication; Without losing novelty. The academic or technical conferences referred to here refer to academic or technical conferences organized and held by relevant competent departments of the State Council or national academic organizations, excluding academic or technical conferences organized and held at or below the provincial level or under the commission of various ministries and commissions of the State Council or national academic societies.

3. If someone discloses the content of an invention or creation without the consent of the applicant, the applicant may still consider that the novelty has not been lost by applying for a patent within six months from the date of disclosure. The disclosure of an invention or creation by others without the consent of the applicant, including the disclosure of the content of the invention or creation by others without complying with express or implied confidentiality agreements, as well as the disclosure of the content of the invention or creation by others through threats, fraud, or espionage activities from the inventor or any other person who has been informed of the content of the invention or creation by them. The disclosure of the above situations is against the wishes of the applicant and is illegal.

For these exceptional circumstances, Chinese law stipulates a grace period for application. However, if applying for a patent abroad, the preferential protection of grace period may not exist. Because regulations vary from country to country. Therefore, whether to disclose the technology before applying for a patent should be carefully considered. Moreover, in both cases (1) and (2) mentioned above, even in China, only the first exhibition or publication of the invention is protected. Re publication during the preferential period and patent applications independently made by others for the same invention will result in the loss of novelty of the invention or creation.