(2026) 最高法知民终51号 — decided April 3, 2026; published August 4, 2026 The Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has issued a decision addressing a recurring problem in plant variety right enforcement: what happens when the accused infringer produces protected propagating material during the term of protection, but the resulting seed is not sold until after the variety right has expired. The court held that the timing of production, not the timing of sale, controls the infringement analysis, and that …
China’s Revised Circuit Layout Design Regulations Cover Photonic and Quantum Integrated Circuits, Add Third-Party Revocation and Punitive Damages
On August 3, 2026, China published the revised Regulations on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits (集成电路布图设计保护条例). The revised text was adopted at the 91st executive meeting of the State Council on July 10, 2026 and promulgated on July 23, 2026. It takes effect on October 15, 2026, per Article 54 of the Regulations. This is the first systematic revision of the Regulations since 2001.
China’s State Council Releases 15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization
On July 31, 2026, China’s State Council released the 15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization (知识产权保护和运用“十五五”规划). Per the Plan, China will revise the implementing rules of the Regulations on the Protection of New Plant Varieties, improve the system for the protection of trade secrets, improve the anti-monopoly system in the field of intellectual property, and revise the Customs Protection Regulations on Intellectual Property. Further, China will improve the intellectual property protection system in emerging fields including algorithms …
CNIPA Releases Revised Measures for Administration of Priority Examination of Patents Excluding Foreigners
Only July 30, 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the revised Measures for Administration of Priority Examination of Patents (Order No. 85) (专利优先审查管理办法（局令第85号）) effective September 1, 2026. Unlike the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s (USPTO) prioritized examination system, foreigners do not appear eligible to use China’s priority examination system.