On April 1, 2021, China State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the 2021 legislative work plan (国家市场监督管理总局2021年立法工作计划), with 8 of the 61 matters related to intellectual property law. The 8 cover patent, trademark and trade secret matters including laws and administrative regulations and departmental rules.
Category: Unfair Competition
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Guidelines for Enforcement of Intellectual Property Judgments
On December 10, 2020, China’s Supreme People’s Court released “Guidelines for Enforcement of Intellectual Property Judgments” (知识产权判决执行工作指南). The Guidelines have 29 Articles that cover the types of cases the Guidelines cover; enforcement of civil intellectual property cases; enforcement of intellectual property administrative cases; and enforcement of criminal intellectual property cases.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation Releases Updated Regulations on Prohibiting Abuse of Intellectual Property Rights to Exclude and Restrict Competition
On November 3, 2020, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released the Regulations on prohibiting abuse of intellectual property rights to exclude and restrict competition (关于禁止滥用知识产权排除、限制竞争行为的规定). Originally released in 2015, the Regulations were mainly amended October 23, 2020 to remove the exemption for price fixing behaviors as a monopolistic behavior covered by the regulations.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Trade Secrets
On September 11, 2020 (and effective September 12, 2020), the Supreme People’s Court of China released the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement (Theft) of Trade Secrets (审理侵犯商业秘密民事案件适用法律若干问题的规定). This judicial interpretation of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and the Civil Procedure Law clarifies the definition of trade secrets in civil litigation and how theft of trade secrets should be handled in civil litigation in China.