Intellectual Property in China

IP in China: how protection works

IP in China is protected through national statutes administered by specialist agencies and enforced through two parallel tracks: administrative action and the courts. The system has matured quickly. China now has specialised IP courts, a national appellate tribunal for technical cases, statutory damages of up to RMB 5 million and punitive damages for wilful infringement under its main IP statutes. For foreign companies the main risk is no longer an absence of law; it is failing to secure rights in time, or holding rights in a form that cannot easily be enforced.

Three features shape strategy. First, patents and trademarks are granted on a first-to-file basis, so the first applicant generally wins regardless of who used the right first elsewhere. Second, evidence rules favour documentary proof, so notarised purchases, registration certificates and authenticated ownership documents matter. Third, rights holders can choose among raids by market regulators, customs seizures, platform takedowns, civil litigation and, in serious cases, criminal referrals, and the best results usually combine several of them.

How the system differs from common law jurisdictions

• Registration over use. Prior use gives only limited protection; registered rights are the main enforceable asset.
• Subclasses. Trademark examination looks at subclasses within each Nice class, so coverage must be chosen carefully.
• Utility models. Ten-year utility model patents are granted without substantive examination and are widely used, including offensively against foreign companies.
• Bifurcation. Patent validity is decided by CNIPA, while infringement is decided by courts, so defendants often run invalidation and litigation in parallel.
• No broad discovery. Parties gather their own evidence, supported by court preservation orders and document production orders in limited cases.
• Administrative enforcement. Government agencies can raid and fine infringers without a court order, a tool many Western systems do not offer to rights holders.

These differences mean that procedures and evidence habits developed in the US, Europe or Hong Kong do not translate directly. A protection plan for IP in China should be designed for Chinese procedure, even when it is coordinated with a global portfolio.

The legal framework and recent changes

The core statutes are the Patent Law, the Trademark Law, the Copyright Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, supported by State Council regulations, Supreme People's Court interpretations and agency guidelines. Several have changed recently, and more changes are scheduled, so a portfolio set up even three years ago may need review.

The revised Trademark Law is the most significant change for brand owners. It has 87 articles in nine chapters and is the first comprehensive revision since 2013. Several more radical proposals in earlier drafts, such as compulsory five-year use declarations, did not survive into the final text, but the law tightens the regime against filings not intended for use and introduces administrative fines for bad-faith applications.

The State Council provisions on foreign-related IP disputes reflect a more strategic view of IP. They promise information, early-warning and mediation support for Chinese companies facing disputes abroad, require that evidence collection in China for foreign proceedings comply with treaties and Chinese law, and allow countermeasures where foreign states use IP disputes to suppress Chinese entities. Foreign litigants seeking discovery from China should factor this into case planning.

What to watch in 2027

Several developments will shape practice over the next year. CNIPA is expected to issue implementing rules and examination standards for the revised Trademark Law before and after it takes effect, including on bad-faith filings, ex officio cancellation and the new opposition timetable. The draft revised Copyright Implementing Regulations, published for consultation in July 2026, may be finalised. Courts continue to develop case law on AI-generated content, data scraping under the revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law and global FRAND rate-setting. Rights holders should also expect continued attention to IP in trade relations, including the use of countermeasures and the interaction between Chinese courts and foreign proceedings.

Institutions and enforcement routes

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) examines and grants patents, registers trademarks and handles oppositions, invalidations and reexaminations. The National Copyright Administration oversees copyright, while voluntary copyright and software registration is handled by the Copyright Protection Center of China. Local market regulation authorities under the State Administration for Market Regulation investigate counterfeiting and unfair competition, and the General Administration of Customs can seize infringing goods at the border based on recorded rights.

On the judicial side, the Supreme People's Court IP Tribunal has heard appeals in patent and other technically complex cases nationwide since 1 January 2019. Dedicated IP courts operate in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and the Hainan Free Trade Port, many intermediate courts have specialised IP tribunals, and internet courts in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou handle many online copyright disputes. Shenzhen, where our representative office is located, has an active IP court docket reflecting its technology industry.

Remedies include injunctions, compensatory damages, statutory damages where losses are hard to prove, punitive damages of one to five times for wilful and serious infringement, evidence and property preservation, and pre-action conduct preservation. Criminal liability applies to serious counterfeiting, copyright piracy and trade secret infringement, following the Criminal Law amendment effective in 2021.

Choosing an enforcement route

The right route depends on what the rights holder wants: to stop a factory, to clear online listings, to recover damages, to deter an industry, or to create leverage for a licence. Each route has different costs, timing and evidential demands, and the strongest enforcement of IP in China usually sequences them deliberately rather than choosing one.

Timing also differs across routes. Takedowns can take days, administrative raids weeks, and first-instance civil judgments commonly many months, with appeals adding further time. Preliminary injunctions and evidence preservation orders are available where there is urgency and a strong case, and courts increasingly order infringers to produce accounting records, drawing adverse inferences where they refuse. These tools make careful early evidence collection, typically through notarised purchases and notarised screen captures, the most valuable investment in any enforcement plan.

Our IP in China practice areas

Our pages on each area explain the rules in more detail and the questions to resolve before filing, licensing or enforcing:

• Patents: invention, utility model and design patents, the 2026 examination standards, confidentiality examination and patent strategy.
• Trademarks: filing strategy, Chinese-language marks, oppositions, non-use cancellations and the 2027 Trademark Law.
• Copyright: software, content and AI-generated works, registration, licensing and online enforcement.
• Trade secrets: protection under the revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law, employee departures and technology transfer.
• Designs: design patents, partial designs, Hague filings and product appearance strategy.
• Plant variety rights: the 2025 regulations, essentially derived varieties and seed sector licensing.
• Domain names and customs IP protection: domain disputes, customs recordals and border seizures.
• IP litigation: coordinating civil, administrative and criminal enforcement with PRC litigators.
• IP licensing and commercialisation: licences, technology import and export rules, royalties and IP-backed finance.
• SEP and FRAND litigation: global rate-setting, anti-suit injunctions and multi-jurisdiction strategy.
• Pharmaceutical patents and patent linkage: early dispute resolution for drug patents and term compensation.
• Short drama and creative content IP: chain of title, platform licensing and overseas distribution.
• IP protection strategy in China: building a portfolio and enforcement plan aligned with business goals.

Cross-border issues for IP in China

Most of our IP in China work is cross-border, and several issues recur. The first is ownership. Rights are often filed in the name of a Chinese subsidiary, a distributor or an individual employee, and later transfers require CNIPA recordal and, for technology, may fall under the Technology Import and Export Administration Regulations. Agreeing at the outset which group entity owns Chinese rights avoids expensive restructuring later.

The second is outbound filing. Under the Patent Law, an invention or utility model completed in China must pass a confidentiality examination before any patent application is filed abroad. Research and development centres in China, and Chinese companies with overseas R&D teams, need a filing procedure that captures this. Filing first through a PCT application with CNIPA as receiving office is a common solution.

The third is export control of technology. Transferring certain technologies abroad, including through licences or assignments, may require a licence under China's catalogue of technologies prohibited or restricted from export and the Export Control Law. Conversely, foreign companies licensing technology into China must check US and EU export controls and sanctions.

The fourth is multi-jurisdiction disputes. Chinese courts have issued anti-suit injunctions and set global licensing rates in standard-essential patent cases, US Section 337 investigations frequently involve Chinese respondents, and Hong Kong remains a separate IP jurisdiction with its own registries, courts and arbitration institutions. Coordinated strategy across these forums is often the difference between a negotiated licence and years of parallel litigation.

Chinese companies protecting IP abroad

For Chinese companies going global, the challenge runs the other way. Brands built on domestic platforms often have no registrations in target markets, and technology companies face patent assertion campaigns, customs actions and standard-essential patent claims as soon as sales grow. Building protection abroad means filing through the Madrid and Hague systems or nationally, clearing trademarks and freedom to operate before launch, and preparing for disputes in the US, the EU, the UK and emerging markets. Government support schemes, insurance and mutual-aid funds under the 2025 provisions can help, but they do not replace a coordinated international strategy.

IP in transactions

IP issues surface in nearly every China-related transaction. In inbound M&A and joint ventures, buyers should verify that registrations are held by the target rather than founders or affiliates, that employee inventions have been properly assigned and remunerated, that licences are recorded where needed and transferable, and that open-source software and data use comply with licence terms. In outbound deals, Chinese buyers should check export control restrictions on technology they will acquire and plan for foreign investment screening that focuses on sensitive technology.

In IPOs on mainland and Hong Kong exchanges, regulators frequently ask about core technology ownership, pending litigation and dependence on licensed IP. A clean title chain, documented R&D records and a clear explanation of how key IP in China and abroad is protected help a listing proceed smoothly.

Building an IP programme step by step

1. Audit. List the IP in China that creates value, including brands, technologies, content and data, and check who owns what, where it is registered and what has already been disclosed.
2. File. Register trademarks in the relevant subclasses, including Chinese-language versions, and file patents and designs before products are shown to manufacturers or at trade fairs.
3. Contract. Put IP ownership, confidentiality and non-use clauses into manufacturing, R&D, distribution and employment contracts, governed by enforceable terms.
4. Record. Record trademarks, copyright and patents with customs, and record licences with CNIPA where relevant.
5. Monitor. Watch the trademark gazette, e-commerce platforms, trade fairs and competitor patent filings.
6. Enforce. Choose between takedowns, administrative raids, customs action, civil suits and criminal referrals based on scale and objectives, working with licensed PRC counsel.
7. Review. Revisit the portfolio annually and before financings, M&A or new product launches. Drop registrations that no longer serve the business, add coverage for new products and channels, and check that renewal dates, licence recordals and customs recordals are still current.

Common mistakes with IP in China

• Filing late. Trademark squatters and copycat design filings often appear soon after a product is first shown in China.
• Ignoring Chinese names. Consumers and the market will give a brand a Chinese name; if the owner does not register one, someone else may.
• Wrong subclasses. Chinese practice divides Nice classes into subclasses, and gaps in coverage are exploited by squatters.
• Weak manufacturing contracts. Generic NDAs governed by foreign law are hard to enforce against Chinese factories; tailored non-use, non-disclosure and non-circumvention agreements work better.
• No evidence plan. Claims fail when rights holders cannot prove infringement, ownership or loss with admissible evidence.
• Relying on a single tool. Repeated takedowns without action against the source factory rarely change behaviour; combining online, administrative and civil steps does.
• Letting registrations lapse. Unused trademarks are vulnerable to non-use cancellation after three consecutive years, and the 2027 law also allows CNIPA to cancel generic or unused marks on its own initiative.
• Overlooking data and trade secrets. Algorithms, datasets and know-how are often better protected as trade secrets than patents, but only with real confidentiality measures.

How TRW & Co helps

Our Shenzhen representative office advises foreign companies investing in China and Chinese companies expanding abroad on IP strategy from an international perspective. We audit portfolios, design ownership and licensing structures, negotiate technology, brand and content agreements under international and non-PRC laws, and coordinate multi-jurisdiction filings and disputes, including in Hong Kong, the US and Europe. Where PRC legal advice, CNIPA filings, administrative complaints or court and arbitration representation in China are required, we work with licensed PRC law firms and patent and trademark agencies and manage the overall programme. Related support is available on anti-unfair competition and US Section 337 investigations. To discuss your IP in China priorities, contact us.