The Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China released the “Opinions on Increasing Sanctions for Intellectual Property Infringement (Draft for Comment)” “关于加大知识产权侵权行为制裁力度的意见（征求意见稿）” in mid-June for comment. The draft opinions confirm the primacy of permanent injunctions and potentially increases the amount of monetary damages typically awarded. The opinions also cover strengthening evidence preservation and increasing criminal enforcement of the intellectual property laws.
Category: Trade Secrets
China’s Draft Amendments to Criminal Law Include U.S. Economic Espionage Act Provision
Updated July 14, 2020 to reflect Mark Cohen’s thoughts. China’s National People’s Congress has released the Criminal Law Amendment (Eleven) (Draft) for comments. Perhaps because of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) increased enforcement of the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) targeting China as a beneficiary, the Chinese draft adds a separate provision for foreign-related trade secret theft. Specifically, Article 219 will have a new paragraph, “For stealing, spying, buying, or illegally providing trade secrets to foreign institutions, organizations, and personnel, …
Defendant in China Wind Turbine Trade Secret Theft Case Sentenced to 3-Year Prison Term
As reported by the Guangdong Higher People’s Court, the People’s Court of Huilai County of Jieyang City sentenced defendant Liu Zhongyan to three years’ imprisonment and 1 million RMB fine for criminal trade secret theft on June 29, 2020. Liu had stolen trade secrets relating to Mingyang Smart Energy Group Co., Ltd.’s first 7.25MW offshore wind turbine.