context: Legal recourse against piracy, counterfeiting and other IPR infringements improved in recent years through the establishment of three IP courts (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) and 20 IP tribunals. An IP Appellate Court, launched 1 Jan 2019, completed the system. But getting a verdict is slow and not always easy to enforce. As shown by 2020-21 action points, administrative agencies, especially CNIPA, have taken the lead, as the US demanded improving IPR protection in the China-US Phase 1 trade deal. A national IP strategy is expected for H2.
SPC (Supreme People's Court) released a number of documents to raise the cost of IPR (intellectual property right) infringements, addressing
- patent granting and confirmation disputes, on 11 September
- infringements of commercial secrets, on 11 September
- IPR infringement criminal cases, on 13 September, with Supreme People's Procuratorate
- internet IPR infringements, on 13 September
- civil cases involving e-commerce platforms, on 13 September
- increasing punishments, on 15 September
The 'Guidelines on IPR infringement criminal cases' reduce the threshold for 'significant losses' due to the theft of commercial secrets from C¥500,000 to C¥300,000, making it easier to win a criminal case. However, whereas the draft for public consultation had listed 'violating commercial secrets for foreign institutions, organisations and personnel' among severe offences, the sentence was dropped from the final document. Similarly, references to infringing business secrets of overseas units that had been in the 'increasing punishments for IPR infringement' draft did not make it to the final version.
The latter stipulates
- increasing compensation, including loss in profits and attorney fees
- destroying infringing goods, materials and tools
- stepping up criminal persecution, with heavier punishments and no probation for serious and repeat offences