On February 6, 2026, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released five typical cases of unfair competition in the field of artificial intelligence (市场监管总局公布五起人工智能领域不正当竞争典型案例). SAMR provides an administrative route for the enforcement of intellectual property in China in addition to civil and criminal enforcement mechanisms. SAMR released these cases to “effectively guide business entities to operate legally and compliantly and maintain the healthy development of the artificial intelligence industry.”
China’s Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court Releases 2025 Case Statistics – 16.9% of Cases Involved Foreigners
On January 28, 2026, the Intellectual Property Court (IPC) of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the 2025 Annual Report of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court (最高人民法院知识产权法庭年度报告). The Report included a statistics section reproduced below. The IPC received 449 new cases in 2025 involving foreign parties and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, accounting for 16.9% of all new cases. Of these, 431 were new cases involving foreign parties, accounting for 16.2% of all new cases; 18 were new cases involving …
CNIPA Revokes Three Chinese Patent Firms’ Licenses for Fabricating Partners
On February 6, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released three decisions revoking the operating licenses for three Chinese patent firms for fabricating partners. Per CNIPA, the actual controllers of the firms involved, in order to obtain a patent agency license, agreed with patent agents to act as nominal partners, paying them “license-hanging fees.” The agents merely registered their patent agent qualifications with the firms involved, without practicing full-time or participating in the firm’s daily operations. The patent applications …
Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court Releases 2025 Annual Report – Punitive Damages are Up 29.4% YoY
On January 28, 2026, the Intellectual Property Court (IPC) of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the 2025 Annual Report of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court (最高人民法院知识产权法庭年度报告). The Reported highlighted some IP infringement cases as well as provided statistics on caseloads and verdicts. Punitive damages are being awarded more regularly, but large verdicts are still relatively rare. In 2025, 30 cases (a 66.7% increase year-on-year) applied punitive damages, with a total compensation amount of 1.13 billion …