CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Binxin Li, Sally Wang, Guangzhen Shang and Yue He, LeanWill Law Firm
accepted 6,745 cases involving strategic emerging industries. Such cases accounted for 17.6% of all accepted cases in 2019, rising to 32.4% in 2025. In 2025, Chinese courts concluded 908 cases involv- ing disputes over data ownership and transactions, representing a 25.6% increase compared with 2024. China also continues to establish itself as a pre- ferred venue for IP dispute resolution. In 2025, Chi- nese courts accepted 11,066 first-instance IP cases involving foreign parties, representing a year-on-year increase of 34.1%. This highlights China’s efforts to provide fair IP protection for all rights holders. Legislation and Regulatory Developments China has continued to refine its IP legal framework with the aim of strengthening IP protection and driv- ing economic development, particularly in emerging industries. Several noteworthy legislative and regula- tory developments include the following. Amendment to Judicial Interpretations on Punitive Damages (2026) On 17 April 2026, the SPC released amendments to the Judicial Interpretations on the Application of Puni- tive Damages in IP Civil Cases. These amendments update the previous judicial interpretations issued in 2021 and further demonstrate China’s commitment to strengthening IP protection. The amendments pro- vide greater clarity regarding the circumstances and requirements for determining “intentional” conduct and “serious circumstances”, clarify the methods for calculating the damages base, and refine the rules governing the determination of multipliers. In doing so, they enhance legal predictability and practical operability while promoting greater consistency in adjudication standards. Amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (2025) The third amendment to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (AUCL), adopted on 27 June 2025 and effective from 15 October 2025, introduced several significant revisions. It expanded the scope of regulated acts of confusion by covering: (i) the unauthorised use of another party’s online nickname, new media account, app name, or app icon; (ii) the unauthorised use of another party’s registered trade mark or unregistered
well-known trade mark as a trade name; and (iii) the unauthorised use of another party’s product name, trade name, registered trade mark, or unregistered well-known trade mark as an internet search keyword. The amendment also strengthened the regulation of false or misleading commercial practices, including fabricated online transactions and user reviews. It fur- ther refined the rules governing internet-related unfair competition, such as the abuse of platform rules to damage a competitor’s reputation or obtain an unfair competitive advantage. In addition, it increased the minimum fine for serious trade secret infringement from RMB500,000 to RMB1 million. Finally, it clari- fied the extraterritorial application of the AUCL to acts of unfair competition committed outside China that disrupt market order within China or harm domestic business operators. Draft Amendment to the Trademark Law (2025) On 22 December 2025, the Draft Amendment to the Trademark Law was submitted to the Standing Com- mittee of the National People’s Congress for legisla- tive deliberation. Reflecting a shift from a registration- oriented approach towards a use-oriented regime, the Draft addresses several prominent issues, including bad-faith trade mark filings, malicious litigation, evi- dential requirements in trade mark use and non-use cancellation proceedings, and procedural inefficien- cies. Key proposed amendments include: • introducing a new category of non-traditional trade mark, namely motion marks, to better accommo- date developments in the digital environment; • extending cross-class protection to unregistered well-known trade marks; • tightening trade mark registration requirements to curb bad-faith filings and trade mark hoarding, while strengthening use obligations for registered trade marks; • raising the evidential threshold for non-use cancel- lation actions; • improving examination efficiency and streamlining procedures by reducing the statutory opposition period from three months to two months and for- malising the examination suspension mechanism; • refining the damages regime by allowing rights holders to elect between compensation based
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