Record CNY 120M in Compensation for the Infringement of the Patent Owned by an Individual
Recently, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court announced a patent infringement case involving electronic-grade copper oxide, which set a record of over CNY 120 million in compensation awarded to a natural person in a patent litigation case.
The court of first instance ruled that Company L shall be liable for compensation of CNY 120 million, considering the factors such as the role of the patent involved in the production process of the infringing products, the comparison between the patent involved and the prior art identified in the patent invalidation procedure, relevant evidence submitted by Company L on the profit contribution rate of the involved patent to the infringing products, and the agreement on licensing fees between the two parties during the cooperation period. This amount accounts for 80% of the calculated total net profit of CNY 150 million.
Dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment, Company L filed an appeal, claiming that the contribution rate of the patent involved should be adjusted to 14.88% or 5.985%.
In response, the court of the second instance held that the technical solution of the patent involved covers the entire alleged infringing equipment, and Company L has admitted that electronic-grade copper oxide products are its core and sole product. The 80% ratio determined by the first-instance judgment based on the aforementioned factors was not obviously inappropriate. Therefore, the original judgment was upheld. (Feb. 3rd, 2026, IPcode)
Cases
1,932 Online Unfair Competition Cases Investigated in China in 2025 - Typical Cases Announced
Recently, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), in 2025, market supervision authorities continued to launch the special campaign to rectify online unfair competition acts. Market supervision authorities at all levels across the country investigated and handled a total of 1,932 online unfair competition cases, with fines and confiscations totaling CNY 71.5294 million. In addition, eight typical cases were selected:
1. The Shiqi Branch of Zhongshan Municipal Administration for Market Regulation in Guangdong Province investigated and dealt with the case of Zhongshan Luxin Computer Technology Co., Ltd. using technical means to hinder and undermine the normal operation of online products or services legally provided by other business operators.
2. Xinxiang Municipal Administration for Market Regulation in Henan Province investigated and dealt with the case of Xinxiang Jiayou Network Technology Co., Ltd. in Hongqi District using technical means to hinder and undermine the normal operation of online products or services legally provided by other business operators.
3. The Jimei Branch of Xiamen Municipal Administration for Market Regulation in Fujian Province investigated and dealt with the fake transactions organized by Xiamen Tiandingxing Network Technology Co., Ltd.
4. Jiujiang Municipal Administration for Market Regulation in Jiangxi Province investigated and dealt with the case of Jiujiang Yinmei Technology Co., Ltd. engaging in illegal data crawling.
5. Chengdu Municipal Administration for Market Regulation in Sichuan Province investigated and dealt with the case of Chengdu Zuoqi Culture Media Co., Ltd. committing commercial defamation.
6. The Haizhou Branch of Lianyungang Municipal Administration for Market Regulation in Jiangsu Province investigated and dealt with the case of Lianyungang Chuangyan Biotechnology Co., Ltd. committing commercial defamation.
7. The Qingpu Branch of Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation investigated and dealt with the case of Shanghai Zhaoyi Enterprise Management Center engaging in commercial confusion.
8. Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation investigated and dealt with the case of Space Wisdom Decoration (Beijing) Co., Ltd. conducting false advertising. (Jan. 31st, 2026, mrjjxw.com)
Statistics
CNIPA Released China’s Intellectual Property Statistics of 2025
Recently, the State Council Information Office held a press conference where relevant leading officials of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) introduced the intellectual property work in 2025, as detailed below:
(I) Patents
A total of 972,000 invention patents, 1.461 million utility model patents and 666,000 design patents were granted throughout the year. 96,000 patent reexamination and invalidation cases were concluded. The examination cycle for invention patents was shortened to 15 months, and the case conclusion accuracy rate was raised to 95.6%. 78,000 PCT international patent applications were accepted. Chinese patent applicants filed 2,844 international design applications under the Hague Agreement.
By the end of 2025, the number of valid invention patents in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) reached 5.32 million, and the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reached 16.
(II) Trademarks
4.206 million trademarks were registered throughout the year, 384,000 various trademark review cases and 112,000 opposition cases were concluded. The average examination cycle for trademark registration was stably maintained at 4 months, with the examination qualification rate exceeding 97%. 6,718 international trademark registration applications under the Madrid System filed by Chinese applicants were received.
By the end of 2025, the number of valid registered trademarks in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) reached 49.877 million. Among the world’s top 5,000 brands, the total value of Chinese brands reached USD 1.81 trillion, ranking the second in the world.
(III) Geographical Indications
104 new geographical indication products were identified, 2,639 geographical indication products were converted and recognized, 51 collective trademarks and certification trademarks based on geographical indications were approved for registration, and more than 20,000 business entities were approved to use the special marks for geographical indications.
By the end of 2025, China had cumulatively identified 5,066 geographical indication products, approved the registration of 7,425 collective trademarks and certification trademarks based on geographical indications, and authorized more than 52,000 business entities to use the special marks for geographical indications.
(IV) Integrated Circuit Layout Designs
10,000 registration certificates for integrated circuit layout designs were issued throughout the year. By the end of 2025, the cumulative number of registration certificates for integrated circuit layout designs issued in China reached 93,000.
(V) Pilot Program for Digital Intellectual Property
By October 2025, pilot regions across the country had issued a total of more than 40,000 data intellectual property registration certificates, with the amount of financing credit enhancement, licensing and transactions reaching nearly CNY 15 billion.
(VI) Intellectual Property Protection
Five new national intellectual property protection centers and two fast intellectual property protection centers were established, bringing the total number to 129. Thirty-six new guidance platforms for overseas intellectual property dispute were set up, with the total number reaching 116. The entire system handled 57,000 administrative cases of patent infringement disputes and guided the settlement of 62,000 intellectual property mediation cases. Fifty-eight administrative adjudication cases under the early resolution mechanism for pharmaceutical patent disputes were concluded.
(VII) Intellectual Property Utilization
The number of patent transfer and licensing recordals reached 697,000 throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%. Among them, universities and research institutions recorded nearly 90,000 patent transfer and licensing cases, a year-on-year increase of 16.6%. The industrialization rate of invention patents in enterprises reached 54%, maintaining a steady growth for many consecutive years. From January to November 2025, the total import and export volume of intellectual property royalties in China reached 382.87 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, among which the export volume increased by 23.1% year-on-year.
(VIII) Intellectual Property Public Services
Thirty-six new national intellectual property public service institutions were established, bringing the total number to 519. The coverage rate of prefecture-level comprehensive intellectual property public service institutions rose to 54.1%. The online application rate for patents and trademarks both exceeded 99%. (Jan. 23rd, 2026, State Council Information Office)
IP Court of the Supreme People’s Court Releases Relevant Statistical Data
According to data released by the Supreme People’s Court, since its establishment on January 1, 2019, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court has accepted 24,602 cases and concluded 23,069 cases, achieving remarkable results in incentivizing and safeguarding scientific and technological innovation, maintaining fair market competition, serving high-level opening up, and deepening the reform of the judicial system.
Among them, 6,745 cases involving strategic emerging industries were accepted, accounting for 32.4% in 2025, an increase from 17.6% in 2019; 6,543 administrative cases involving the grant and confirmation of patent rights were accepted, with an average annual growth of 31.8%; 5,354 invention patent infringement cases were accepted, with an average annual growth of 11.5%. Punitive damages were applied in 58 cases, with a total compensation of CNY 2.05 billion and an average of more than CNY 35 million per case; 73 cases with high compensation exceeding CNY 10 million had a total compensation of CNY 5.24 billion and an average of nearly CNY 72 million per case.
A total of 2,546 cases involving foreign parties were accepted, accounting for 10.3% of the total, with an average annual growth of 18.7%, and 2,046 of them were concluded. At the same time, the tribunal has actively explored the jurisdiction over global licensing disputes of standard-essential patents, anti-suit injunctions, anti-anti-suit injunctions, permanent injunctions, and the determination of royalty rates. Nearly 80 judicial rulings of the court have been included in the case databases of international organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization. (Jan.28th, 2026, Xinhuanet.com)
