CHINA – BEIJING Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ye Zhao and Liwei Jiang, Jingtian & Gongcheng
• Direct commercialisation of stolen secrets: In the packaging steel strip case, 2023 SPC ZhiMin- Zhong No 868 , a departing department head sold a complete set of proprietary production drawings to a third party for CNY350,000, then assisted in building an infringing production line. Breach of confidentiality by commercial partners (two cases) In the dry desulphurisation case, 2023 SPC ZhiMin- Zhong No 2880 , a contractual partner received com - plete process parameters for a collaborative pro - ject, promptly filed patents on the technology, and disclosed it to two further companies for a separate contract worth over CNY300 million. In the pharma - ceutical intermediate case, 2023 SPC ZhiMinZhong No 642 , a counterparty holding roles simultaneously as shareholder, export agent, and contract manufac - turer extracted updated process drawings under the guise of regulatory disclosure, then transferred the technology to a company under his own control. Overall Appellate Outcome: Across-the-Board Reversal in Favour of Rights Holders All 11 published 2025 judgments are second-instance decisions in which the SPC reversed or materially modified the lower court ruling. This is highly unusual in the history of published SPC decisions and is itself a deliberate signal. • Five cases (first instance: dismissed): Lower courts dismissed on grounds of overly strict secrecy standards, insufficient evidence, or pro - cedural bars. The SPC reversed in all five, finding infringement and awarding damages ranging from CNY500,000 to CNY28.87 million. • Four cases (first instance: infringement found, dam - ages increased): Lower courts found infringement but applied conservative damages methodologies. The SPC substantially recalculated profits, applied punitive multipliers, and increased awards by fac - tors ranging from 9× to almost 30×. • Two cases (damages affirmed): The SPC affirmed the damages quantum whilst adjusting joint liability scope, 2023 SPC ZhiMinZhong No 655 , or con - verting independent liability to joint liability with an elevated punitive multiplier, 2023 SPC ZhiMin- Zhong No 2467 .
This pattern is reinforced by macro statistics: the SPC’s overall civil reversal rate rose from 23.3% in 2024 to 26.3% in 2025, with trade secret cases exhibiting reversal rates and damages escalation far exceeding the system-wide average. Nine Core Adjudication Trends Trend 1: A quantum leap in damages – high awards are now the norm The aggregate damages awarded across the 11 pub - lished cases exceeded CNY1.02 billion, with a mean of approximately CNY93.1 million and a median of CNY50.3 million per case. Three cases exceeded CNY100 million; 54% exceeded CNY50 million; and 81% exceeded CNY10 million. The contrast with 2024 is dramatic. In 2024, excluding the statistical outlier of the WM Motor v Geely case (CNY643 million), the median damages award was only CNY1.84 million; 20 of 22 successful claimants received less than CNY6 million. The 2025 median is approximately 27 times higher than its 2024 counter - part. This is not a function of one exceptional case; it reflects a systemic recalibration across the entire spectrum of the docket. Trend 2: The damages surge is driven primarily by second-instance correction First-instance awards remained in the millions-to-low- tens-of-millions range – consistent with the histori - cal pattern of conservative lower court adjudication. Second-instance corrections by the SPC are behind the surge. Among the four cases where damages were increased on appeal, the minimum multiplier was 9× and the maximum was approximately 29.8×. Five fur - ther cases moved from total dismissal to awards rang - ing from CNY500,000 to CNY28.87 million. This structural pattern has a direct practical implica - tion: at present, the strength of trade secret protec - tion in China depends substantially on the ability to bring a case before the SPC. First-instance courts continue to exhibit notable conservatism in secrecy determination, evidence assessment, and damages calculation. The SPC’s 2025 decisions function not merely as individual remedies but as binding guidance to lower courts on the minimum acceptable level of protection – guidance that, given the Tribunal’s sub -
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