IP Protection in China

Last year saw the CPC’s General Office & China’s State Council issue a joint statement dedicated to the strengthening of IP protection in China. The document’s main emphasis was on the problems with litigation in China, such as:

• difficulty in obtaining evidence;
• the length of trials;
• high legal costs.

Protection of IP rights in China

The statement suggests several ways of combating IP infringements in the PRC, such as:

• increasing fines for IP violations;
• improving evidence criteria;
• unifying standards of judicial proceedings in civil, criminal & administrative cases;
• improving protection measures for developing industries & businesses.

Better Protection of Trade Secrets

It’s suggested that more emphasis be placed on the protection of trade secrets in China. China's top leadership recognizes that trade secret issues have become an important aspect of IP protection in the PRC; therefore, international companies can count on increased protection of trade secrets in China.

Stiffer Punishment

The document contains recommendations for stiffer punishment for infringement of IP rights in the PRC. In particular, it’s suggested that the limit of statutory damages be increased from one million to five million yuan. It’s also recognized that resorting to disclosure (as it’s the case in the US) to resolve an IP dispute in China is impossible. Therefore, establishing the amount of compensation is frequently the only way of protecting IP rights in a Chinese court. 

More Effective IP Litigation

The statement suggests putting in place a more effective mechanism of IP litigation & improving the appeal mechanism for IP cases. To address problems connected to gathering evidence (which makes protecting IP rights in China difficult), the Chinese government is encouraging the introduction of new technologies & methods for collecting evidence.

Improved Patent System

The next key message concerns improvement of the Chinese patent system. First proposed by the Food & Drug Administration in 2017, the Pharmaceutical Patent Liaison System allows one to challenge a patent in China. This, in turn, will encourage generic drug manufacturers to invalidate patents in China that protect drugs of similar brands..