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 …
Category: New Law, Rule or Implementing Regulation
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 National IP Administration (CNIPA) Extends Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program with Austria and Germany
According to a joint decision of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Austrian Patent Office, the China-Austria Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project will be extended for another five years from March 1, 2021, until February 28, 2026. The PPH enables accelerated examination of Chinese patent applications based on an allowance of an earlier-examined patent application. The relevant requirements and procedures for submitting PPH requests in the two offices remain unchanged. The China-Austria (regional) PPH pilot program …
China Issues Draft “Measures Regarding the Regulation of Patent Applications” to Crack Down on ‘Abnormal’ Patent Applications
On February 10, 2021, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Measures on Regulating Patent Applications (Draft for Comment) (关于规范申请专利行为的办法(征求意见稿)). The draft defines abnormal (read junk) patent applications, related behaviors and the penalties for these behaviors. Apparently, CNIPA does not actually want comments because these draft measures were released right before the week-long Chinese New Year holiday and CNIPA is providing a very short period to submit comments – 16 days. These measures and the concurrent elimination of …