China’s Supreme People’s Court released and effective on March 3, 2021 the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of Punitive Damages to the Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights (最高人民法院关于审理侵害知识产权民事案件适用惩罚性赔偿的解释) (法释〔2021〕4号). The Interpretation defines when a plaintiff may request punitive damages in civil intellectual property infringement cases; how People’s Courts should determine if punitive damages should be awarded; and how People’s Courts should calculate the amount of punitive damages. Note that no defenses …
China Remains Top Patent Cooperation Treaty Application Filer in 2020
In a report by the World Intellectual Property Organization dated March 2, 2021, China remained the top user of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with 68,720 applications for+16.1% year-on-year growth. Last year (2019), China had 59,193 PCT applications. Other top users of the PCT system were the U.S. (59,230 applications, +3%), Japan (50,520 applications, -4.1%), the Republic of Korea (20,060 applications, +5.2%) and Germany (18,643 applications, -3.7%).
Heavier Criminal Penalties for Chinese Intellectual Property Infringement Kick in March 1, 2021
On December 26, 2020, the Twenty-Fourth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress of China voted to pass the “Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (11)” (中华人民共和国刑法修正案（十一）), which will go into effect on March 1, 2021. The Criminal Law includes several articles for intellectual property crime and the amendments increase the maximum sentencing term to up to 1o years. The amendments also add a new article somewhat similar to the US’ Economic Espionage …
China’s Supreme People’s Court Awards 159 Million RMB Compensation in Vanillin Trade Secret Case
The Supreme People’s Court announced a verdict on February 26, 2021 against Wanglong Group Co., Ltd. awarding Jiaxing Zhonghua Chemical Co., Ltd. (嘉兴市中华化工有限责任公司) and Shanghai Xinchen New Technology Co., Ltd. (上海欣晨新技术有限公司) 159 million RMB (~$24.5 million USD) in trade secret case relating to the manufacture of vanillin, a food flavoring. This is the largest ever trade secret theft award reported in China.