In an announcement dated April 23, 2024, the Beijing Internet Court of China ruled against a defendant that used a dubber’s voice to train a generative AI. Specifically, the Court held that the defendant use of dubber’s voice to train an AI voice generator infringed the dubber’s personality rights due to similarity of the voice generator output to the dubber’s voice. This same Court earlier held there is copyright in AI-generated images.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Top 10 IP Cases of 2023
On April 22, 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases of 2023 and 50 Typical IP Cases of 2023. While not officially a common law jurisdiction, these cases have “demonstration and guidance functions” for lower courts. The SPC also released the Top 10 Influential Cases earlier this year.
Shanghai to Subsidize Construction of Standard Essential Patent Pools
On April 22, 2024, the Pudong District of Shanghai, China released the Pudong New Area Science and Technology Development Fund Intellectual Property Funding Special 2024 Application Guide (浦东新区科技发展基金知识产权资助专项2024年度申报指南), which includes funding for the establishment of standard essential patent (SEP) pools. Fourteen other funding measures are also available including up to 2 million RMB for foreign invention patent funding/entity and foreign intellectual property rights enforcement.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Hold IP Press Conference and Releases Report on 2023 IP Protection
On April 22, 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) held a press conference for Intellectual Property Publicity Week, introducing the overall situation of judicial protection of intellectual property rights in courts across the country in 2023. The SPC also released the Status of Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Chinese Courts (2023) (中国法院知识产权司法保护状况(2023年)). Some highlights from the press conference and report follow.