Recently, the Supreme People’s Court released the Report of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court on Strengthening Integrity and Curbing Malicious Litigation and five typical cases in this regard.
1. Malicious Litigation Case Involving “Dashcam” Patent - (2023) SPC IP Civil Final No. 869
2. Malicious Litigation Case Involving Utility Model Patent “Target Flowmeter” - (2022) SPC IP Civil Final No. 1861
3. Malicious Litigation Case Involving Utility Model Patent “Guide Rail” - (2022) SPC IP Civil Final No. 2586
4. Malicious Litigation Case Involving Utility Model Patent “Finished Product Tank” - (2023) SPC IP Civil Final No. 2044
5. Malicious Litigation Case Involving Invention Patent of a Preparation Method “Siraitia Grosvenorii Extract” - (2021) SPC IP Civil Final No. 1353 (Nov. 19, 2025, Press Office of Supreme People’s Court)
Copyright
Supreme Court Raises Damages Award to CNY 55M in Software Copyright Case, Applying Punitive Damages
Recently, the Supreme People’s Court issued a final judgment in an infrared thermal imaging software copyright infringement case, increasing the first-instance damages award from CNY 15 million to over CNY 55 million, applying punitive damages.
The Supreme People’s Court held that when determining the multiplier for punitive damages, the possibility of the infringer evading accountability should be considered. In determining the multiplier for punitive damages in intellectual property infringement cases, in addition to considering basic factors such as the infringer's degree of subjective fault and the severity of the infringement, the possibility of the infringer evading legal accountability should also be taken into account as a discretionary factor. In cases where the infringement methods are concealed, the difficulty of proving infringement is high, and the objective probability of discovering and verifying the infringement is significantly reduced, the multiplier for punitive damages may be appropriately increased. (Dec. 30, 2025, IP House)
Trade Secrets
Judgment Takes Effect in “Insider” Trade Secret Infringement Case
14 Resigned Technical Personnel Illegally Obtained Technical Information Valued at Over CNY 300M
Recently, a judgment was issued in a case involving Company A infringing upon the trade secrets of a well-known company, which was handled by Shanghai procuratorial organs under the guidance of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The illegally obtained technical information in this case was valued at CNY 317 million.
The defendant, Zhang, was originally the head of the radio frequency chip development department of a well-known company. After leaving the company, he founded Company A and successively recruited 13 other former colleagues, obtaining over 40 cutting-edge technical items from the original company through improper means.
In July 2025, the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court issued a first-instance judgment finding all 14 defendants guilty of trade secret infringement. The major offender, Zhang, was sentenced to six years in prison and fined CNY 3 million. The other 13 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 to 5 years, or given suspended sentences, with fines ranging from CNY 200,000 to 1.5 million. The judgment has taken effect. (Dec. 31, 2025, Justice Network)
Statistics
CNIPA Releases Statistics Related to Patent Licensing
The CNIPA recently released the statistics related to royalties for patent licensing for the year 2024 and the period from 2020 to 2024, aiming to support local intellectual property administration departments, relevant centers, and companies and organizations in strengthening the use of such statistics, providing references for assessment, pricing in intellectual property licensing and transactions, and determination of infringement damages.
The statistics covers patent licensing agreements filed with the CNIPA during the period, collecting key information specified in the agreement, such as payment methods, transaction amounts, and royalty rates.
The statistics show that there were a total of 27,076 agreements in 2024, involving 54,863 patents, with invention patents accounting for 39.6%. On average, each agreement involved 2 patents. Regarding the payment methods for licensing fees, 7,415 agreements (27.4%) are in fixed or convertible amounts, with a total contract value of CNY 12.73 billion, making an average amount per agreement of CNY 1.711 million, and the average license duration of 2.8 years; 1,119 agreements (4.1%) involved royalty-based payments, with an average license duration of 3.8 years; 18,542 agreements (68.5%) involved gratuitous payments. (Dec.17, 2025, Intellectual Property News)
