On December 24, 2025, China’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Arbitration Work in Intellectual Property Disputes (关于加强知识产权纠纷仲裁工作的指导意见). The Guiding Opinions are encouraging Chinese arbitration institutions to handle international arbitration cases. A translation follows. The original text is available here (Chinese only).
Author: Aaron Wininger
Aaron Wininger is a Principal and Director of the China Intellectual Property at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner.
CNIPA 2026 Closure Dates
China’s State Council has recently released the official holiday schedule for 2026. China’s Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) holiday will last nine days, making it the longest in history. China will continue to have weekend “make-up” days. Patent deadlines are extended to the next working day, not including weekend make-up days while trademark deadlines are extended to the next workday even if it is a weekend make-up day. The schedule follows. 2026 Holiday Closure Days Make-Up Days Western New Year …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases RFC for Draft Interpretation (III) on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Patent Infringement Disputes
On December 20, 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Draft Interpretation (III) on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Patent Infringement Disputes (最高人民法院关于审理侵犯专利权纠纷案件应用法律若干问题的解释（三)) for comment. The Interpretation contains 31 articles covering issues such as jurisdiction, standing to sue, interpretation of claims, infringement comparison, defense of non-infringement, change of circumstances, malicious litigation, and compensation. Some highlights include: Article 3 – no forum shopping by shipping to a favorable jurisdiction. Article 4 – litigation can …
CNIPA Releases Report on the Development of Building a Strong Intellectual Property Nation (2025) – ~10% of Patent Applications were ‘Irregular’
On December 17, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Report on the Development of Building a Strong Intellectual Property Nation (2025) (知识产权强国建设发展报告(2025年)). The Report concludes that “overall progress in building a strong intellectual property nation is good… the rule of law has been further strengthened and the protection of intellectual property rights has been continuously intensified.” Nonetheless, in 2024 CNIPA “completed three rounds of investigations into 597,000 irregular patent applications and cracked down on 427,000 malicious trademark …