On January 18, 2023 China’s Supreme People’s Court and China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate released the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement (Draft for comments) (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（征求意见稿)). The Interpretation mainly sets thresholds for determining criminal prosecution, e.g., when there are “serious circumstances” in trademark infringement. The Interpretation will replace earlier Interpretations including the 2020 Interpretation.
Category: Trade Secrets
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Releases Draft of Amendments to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law
On November 22, 2022, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China ( Revised Draft for Comments ) (中华人民共和国反不正当竞争法（修订草案征求意见稿)). The Draft mainly focuses on the digital economy with a new article 4 stating “Operators must not use data and algorithms, technology, capital advantages, and platform rules to engage in unfair competition.” Articles focusing on trade secrets and other areas are also added.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Typical Anti-Unfair Competition Cases of People’s Courts – 2022
On November 17, 2022 the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of China held a press conference announcing the release of Typical Anti-Unfair Competition Cases of People’s Courts (人民法院反不正当竞争典型案例). Per the SPC, one of the main goal of the release is “strengthen the judicial protection of trade secrets and unify the standards of legal application” as two of the cases involved trade secret misappropriation – one in the pharma space and one in the semiconductor space.
Mirati Therapeutics Sues China’s InventisBio for 99 Million RMB in Trade Secret Theft Case
Per a securities filing by InventisBio Co (益方生物科技（上海）股份有限公司) on November 16, 2022, Mirati Therapeutics sued InventisBio for 99 Million RMB (~$14 million USD) in a trade secret misappropriation case. Mirati requested an injunction, damages, and confirmation of ownership of certain patents and applications in a filing with the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court that was received by InventisBio on November 14, 2022. This case highlights the increased attention recently paid to trade secret misappropriation in China including a 60 million RMB …