‘Has China become a Leading Protector of IP Rights and Trade Secrets?’

Abstract

Whatever you thought about copyright protections, intellectual property or trade secrets in China, get ready for a new reality. In the past few years the Chinese government has made an increasing number of commitments to the protection of intellectual property rights. Trade secrets protections have also been strengthened. China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law imposes a more stringent monetary penalty upon trade secrets violations by administrative agencies. The criminal laws lowered the threshold for criminal investigations. For rights holders to make a tort claim against the infringer, detailed legal rules have recently been put in place by the highest court to alleviate the burden on the rights holders. Due to the predictability of litigation actions and clearer court rules, the coming years will hopefully see more and more trade secrets cases go to court in Chinese.