On April 24, 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) jointly issued the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement (关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释). The Interpretation clarifies trademark crimes, patent counterfeiting, copyright crimes, trade secret misappropriation, and common issues arising in IP crimes (e.g., heavier or reduced sentences). The Interpretation is effective as of April 26, 2025.
Category: New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Releases RFC for Regulations on the Protection of Trade Secrets
On April 25, 2025, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the draft Regulations on the Protection of Trade Secrets for comment (商业秘密保护规定(征求意见稿)). Comments are due May 25, 2025. This draft updates the 1998 version with necessary revisions due to the march of technology. As explained by SAMR: The revision and promulgation of the “Regulations on the Protection of Trade Secrets” is an urgent need to adapt to the new situation and new challenges of trade secret protection. With …
CNIPA Reminds Applicants Not to Include Political Content in Patent Applications
On April 11, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the Business Reminder on Further Standardizing the Requirements for Drafting Patent Application Documents (关于进一步规范专利申请文件撰写要求的业务提醒). The Reminder states that the background section of the specification specifically should not introduce political content not directly related to the technology and only use official maps from China’s Ministry of Natural Resources “to ensure accuracy, legality and authority of the map.” However, this represents difficulties for foreign applicants as the Ministry’s map website appears …
China Releases Draft Implementation Measures for the Protection of Drug Trial Data Including Data Exclusivity for Foreign-Originated Drugs
On March 19, 2025, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) released Implementation Measures for the Protection of Drug Trial Data (Trial, Draft for Comments) (药品试验数据保护实施办法(试行，征求意见稿))and Working Procedures for the Protection of Drug Trial Data (Draft for Comments) (药品试验数据保护工作程序(征求意见稿)) that provides up to 6 years of data exclusivity of clinical trial data required to be submitted to the NMPA to prove safety and efficacy of a new drug to prevent generic drug manufacturers from relying on this data in their own …