In follow up to China’s Ministry of Public Security’s press conference on April 23, 2021 regarding criminal Intellectual Property (IP) law investigations, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) on April 25, 2021 released criminal IP law prosecution data and a list of typical cases. In 2020, the SPP prosecuted 12,163 people in 5,847 cases, a year-on-year increase of 7.6% and 10.4% respectively. Criminal trademark infringement cases accounted for 94.2% of the total, copyright infringement cases accounted for 5.3% of the total, …
Author: Aaron Wininger
Aaron Wininger is a Principal and Director of the China Intellectual Property at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner.
Wyeth’s 30.55 Million RMB Punitive Damages Award for Chinese Trademark Infringement Upheld on Appeal
On April 26, 2021, the Zhejiang High Court upheld a verdict of 30.55 million RMB (~$4.7 million USD) in damages including punitive damages in favor of Wyeth in a trademark infringement case. Wyeth LLC (“U.S. Wyeth”) , a global leader in infant milk powder, originally sued Guangzhou Wyeth Baby Maternal and Infant Products Co., Ltd. (广州惠氏宝贝母婴用品有限公司) (“Guangzhou Wyeth”) for trademark infringement and unfair competition in Hangzhou Intermediate Court and was awarded 30.55 Million RMB in damages and an injunction per …
China’s Ministry of Public Security Releases Status of Intellectual Property Criminal Investigations and Lists Typical Cases of Public Security Agencies Cracking Down on Crimes of Intellectual Property Infringement
On April 23, 2021, China’s Ministry of Public Security held a press conference on the status of enforcing criminal intellectual property (IP) infringement laws. At the press conference, the Ministry said that during the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan,” which just ended, public security agencies across China have investigated more than 90,000 criminal cases of infringement of intellectual property rights and production and sale of counterfeit goods with a value of more than 47 billion RMB, and arrested more than 130,000 criminal …
Director of China’s National Intellectual Property Administration: Speed Up Patent & TM Prosecution; Crack Down on Irregular Applications
At the 2021 High-Level Forum on China IP Protection (2021年中国知识产权保护高层论坛) held April 23, 2021, SHEN Changyu, the Director of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) gave a keynote speech stating CNIPA will speed up patent and trademark application examination and also crack down on both irregular patent and trademark applications.