Chinese government has already initiated anti-counterfeiting measures regulating trademarks and e-commerce

In China, brand owners have an arsenal of civil and criminal laws and regulations at their disposal, which provide various remedies to use in pursuit of efficient and effective anti-counterfeiting enforcement programs. For example, IP rights holders have the ability to initiate a civil litigation before the local Court in which they can seek, among other things, compensation, and injunctive relief. If an infringer’s behavior constitutes a crime, the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) may initiate a criminal action. In addition, IP rights holders have the ability to record their IP rights with Customs, file complaints with online e-commerce platforms, and file complaints with the local Administrative Authority (the AIC). Both Customs and AIC have the authority to seize goods and AIC may also levy fines and conduct raids. E-commerce platforms set their own rules as to how to enforce against counterfeiting violations. In some instances, the platforms have been known to cooperate with, and even proactively share evidence with, law enforcement and/or brand owners regarding potential counterfeit rings or manufacturing operations.

The primary laws relating to IP in China are: Trademark Law; Copyright Law; Patent Law; Administrative Punishment Law; E-commence Law; Anti-unfair Competition Law; Civil Procedure Law; and Criminal Procedure Law.

Recently, China revised certain IP-related legislation, issued new guidelines concerning IP rights, as well as new trademark examination guidelines in 2021. Most notably, the trademark examination guidelines now explain the principles for assessing similarity between trademarks when considering an application for registration, including factors that are not inherent to the marks, such as their fame, the degree of attention paid by the public, and the subjective intent of the applicant (helpful in cases involving bad faith filings), among other factors.

In the next decade, it is likely that China will strengthen the protection of intellectual property, including by potentially implementing a stricter system of punitive damages for trademark infringement, intensifying the crackdown on malicious trademark registrations, accelerating the revision of the Patent Law, extending the protection period of design patents, and patent rights more generally. Also, it is anticipated that China will issue new e-commence laws to deal with the platform issues.