China’s Ministry of Public Security Announces the Issuance of “Opinions on Combating Intellectual Property Crimes in Accordance with the Law to Serve High-Quality Development”

Posted on Categories Case, Copyright, New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Trade Secrets, Trademarks

On July 16, 2025, China’s Ministry of Public Security (PSB) announced the release of the “Opinions on Combatting Intellectual Property Crimes in Accordance with the Law to Serve High-Quality Development” (关于依法打击知识产权犯罪服务高质量发展的意见) although no copy appears to be publicly available.  Simultaneously, the PSB also released “Five Typical Cases of Public Security Organs Combatting Intellectual Property Crimes in Accordance with the Law to Serve High-Quality Development” (公安机关依法打击知识产权犯罪服务高质量发展的5起典型案例) including an economic espionage case involving an unnamed foreign country.

China’s National People’s Congress Passes Amended Anti-Unfair Competition Law

Posted on Categories New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, Uncategorized, Unfair Competition

On June 27, 2025, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) passed the newly amended Anti-Unfair Competition Law (中华人民共和国反不正当竞争法). The amended Anti-Unfair Competition Law (AUCL) will be effective October 15, 2025.  While China is not a common law country, Article 7 of the AUCL nonetheless provides common law-like protection for unregistered marks that have a “certain influence.” Article 7 is updated to prohibit the use of others’ trademarks as business names or search keywords. However, this revision does not address much needed …

China’s Supreme People’s Court Designates Record-Setting Trade Secret Case as a Typical Case

Posted on Categories Trade Secrets

On May 26, 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the “Typical cases on the fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the Civil Code” (民法典颁布五周年典型案例) including one intellectual property case – the record-setting 640 million RMB trade secret case of June 2024. While the decision was a hollow victory as the defendant is insolvent and has not paid any damages, designation as a typical case may encourage lower courts to award higher damages in future trade secret cases. While the …

China’s Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Release Typical Cases of Criminal IP Enforcement for 2024

Posted on Categories Case, Copyright, Trade Secrets, Trademarks

On April 24, 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released the Typical Cases of Criminal IP Enforcement for 2024 (知识产权刑事保护典型案例). This batch was released to show how the newly-issued Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights applies in criminal cases. This batch involves several foreign IP owners including Lego and Universal Studios.  …