On May 7, 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Working Procedures for the Construction and Operation of the People’s Court Case Database (人民法院案例库建设运行工作规程). While China is not a common law country, the SPC stated that judges must search the database and rule in alignment with similar cases in the database to avoid different rulings in cases having the same facts. The Working Procedures explain how cases are added to the database and how judges should use the database …
9-Year Prison Sentence and 600 Million RMB Fine for Criminal Copyright Infringement of Lego Sets
On April 22, 2024, the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court affirmed the Shanghai Huangpu District People’s Court earlier ruling against principal defendants Long XX Company, Chen XX and Chen YY in a case of criminal copyright infringement of Lego sets. The Court sentenced Long XX Company to a fine of RMB 600 million RMB; sentenced the principal defendant Chen XX to nine years in prison and a fine of RMB 20 million RMB; sentenced the principal defendant Chen YY …
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases Typical Cases of Administrative Enforcement – Trademark
On April 26, 2024, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the 2023 Typical Cases of Administrative Enforcement (2023年度知识产权行政保护典型案例). The 30 cases covers patents, trademarks and geographical indications. Administrative enforcement in China provides an alternative to enforcement through the court system and can be faster and less expensive than going to trial. However, while damages are unavailable defendants can be fined. Note though fines can be quite high as the 12 million RMB fine in the first case below indicates.
China’s Supreme People’s Court Releases Summary of the Supreme People’s Court’s Annual Report on Legal Application in Intellectual Property Cases (2023)
On April 24, 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the Summary of the Supreme People’s Court’s Annual Report on Legal Application in Intellectual Property Cases (2023) (最高人民法院知识产权案件法律适用问题年度报告（2023）摘要). The annual report “sorts out the following 41 legal application issues from the intellectual property cases concluded by the Supreme People’s Court in 2023.” While not black letter law in the common law sense, the judgements may be intended to be influential among lower courts.