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China Releases Status of Intellectual Property Protection in China Customs in 2024
On April 23, 2025, China’s General Administration of Customs released Status of Intellectual Property Protection in China Customs in 2024 (2024年中国海关知识产权保护状况) providing statistics on the detainment of good (both import and export) for infringing intellectual property rights. A total of 53,200 intellectual property protection measures were implemented throughout 2024, and 41,600 batches and 81,605,100 items […]
U.S. Trade Representative Releases 2025 Special 301 Report – China Failed to Implement or Only Partially Implemented IP Commitments Under the Phase One Agreement
On April 29, 2025, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released the 2025 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement, of which 10 pages focus on China. The USTR stated, “serious concerns remain regarding long-standing issues like technology transfer, trade secrets, counterfeiting, online piracy, copyright law, patent and related policies, bad faith trademarks, […]
China Releases Regulations on the Protection of New Plant Varieties
On May 1, 2025, China’s State Council released the Regulations on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (中华人民共和国植物新品种保护条例). Major changes in the Regulations include extending the term of variety rights for woody and vine plants from 20 years to 25 years and for other plants from 15 years to 20 years. Further, preliminary examination should be reduced from 6 months […]
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases RFC for Draft Patent Examination Guidelines Targeting Video Codecs
On April 30, 2025, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released a draft amendment for comment of the Patent Examination Guidelines (专利审查指南修改草案 (征求意见)), which is somewhat analogous to the US Patent & Trademark Office’s Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. One of the main proposed changes is the addition of a section tightening examination standards for […]
China Launches Special Campaign to “Clear Up and Rectify the Abuse of AI”
On April 30, 2025, China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) launched a 3-month campaign to “clear up and rectify the abuse of AI technology” including using information that infringes on others’ intellectual property rights, privacy rights and other rights. Per the Cyberspace Administration, “the first phase will strengthen the source governance of AI technology, clean up and […]
China’s Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate Issue Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement
On April 24, 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) jointly issued the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement (关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释). The Interpretation clarifies trademark crimes, patent counterfeiting, copyright crimes, trade secret misappropriation, and common issues arising in IP crimes (e.g., […]