Decree of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

No. 807

The Regulations on Protection of New Plant Varieties of the People's Republic of China have been revised and passed at the 57th executive meeting of the State Council on April 18, 2025, and the revised regulations are now promulgated and will be enforced on June 1, 2025.

Premier  LI Qiang

April 29, 2025

(Source: www.gov.cn)

Recently, the CNIPA released the infographic of preliminary statistical data of the IP5 Offices in 2024, and the full IP5 Statistics Report 2024 will be released in the last quarter of 2025.

Attachment: Infographic of Key IP5 Statistical Indicators 2024 (English version). pdf

(Source: website of CNIPA)

The Intellectual Property (IP) Protection in China 2024 White Paper was officially released recently. The White Paper outlines the progress and achievements of China's IP protection in 2024.

Regarding international cooperation, the White Paper highlights China's profound involvement in global IP governance. China hosted the 2024 International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) World Congress, to which President XI Jinping sent a congratulatory letter, and also hosted the Third Belt and Road High-Level Conference on Intellectual Property. By doing so, China continued to deepen communication and cooperation with international organizations such as the WIPO and intellectual property institutions in other countries and regions, and further strengthened judicial cooperation and joint law enforcement with relevant countries (and regions).

Attachment: Intellectual Property Protection in China 2024. pdf

(Source: website of CNIPA)

The 15^th China International Trademark and Brand Festival, with the aim of "PROVIDING SERVICES FOR BRAND BUILDING PROJECTS AND FOSTERING FAMOUS BRANDS IN CHINA" and the theme of "Inheritance, Evolution, Sharing", will be held in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, from September 5 to 8. Events such as the China Trademark Annual Meeting and the China Brand & Trademark Exposition will be held during the festival.

Focusing on the whole chain of trademark and brand registration, protection, utilization, management, and service, over 20 parallel sessions will be hosted during the 19th China Trademark Annual Meeting. In addition to classic sessions as retained, new events will be introduced this year, including sessions themed on "AI and Intellectual Property Protection", workshops on intellectual property in cultural relics and cultural tourism, and sessions on the integrated development of intangible cultural heritage, time-honored brands, and geographical indications.

(Source: website of China Trademark Association)

On the morning of April 23, under the joint witness of President XI Jinping and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Memorandum of Understanding between the National Intellectual Property Administration of the People's Republic of China and the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan was signed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The two sides agreed to enhance communication and cooperation in the field of intellectual property, including patent, industrial design, trademark, and geographical indication, with the aim of promoting the technological, trade, and socio-economic development of both countries.

(Source: website of CNIPA)

On April 25, the Chongqing High People's Court unveiled 2024 typical cases for new quality productive forces development by strengthening intellectual property trial services. Among them, the case of SEMK PRODUCTS LIMITED and others (represented by Unitalen) v. Wenzhou Little Yellow Duck Brand Operation Co., Ltd and others for dispute over infringement of trademark rights was successfully selected.

Related Reading: Unitalen Representing Hong Kong B.Duck 小黄鸭 to Assist in Winning First Determination of Famous "B.Duck" and Other Trademarks Was Awarded Compensation of 4.3 Million

Recently, the High People's Court of Jilin Province unveiled 2024 typical cases of judicial protection of intellectual property. Among them, the case of a rice company (represented by Beijing Unitalen Law Firm) v. WEI X X for a dispute over damage liability from the malicious intellectual property lawsuit was successfully selected.

Related Reading: Unitalen Representing Xu's Rice in Striking against "Malicious Lawsuit" regarding Design Patent of Rice Packaging and in Copyright Protection, Winning the Final Judgments of Both Cases

On April 27, the Beijing Trademark Association unveiled the top ten typical cases of trademark litigation of Beijing in 2024. Among them, the case of SRAM, LLC (represented by Unitalen) v. the CNIPA for the administrative dispute over the review of refused trademark application No. G1729330 "Position Mark of Bicycle Freewheel" was successfully selected.

Related Reading: Unitalen Representing SRAM Prevailed in the First-instance Trial of the Position Mark Case of "Bicycle Freewheel", Reinforcing the Registrability of "A Single-color Trademark Applied to a Specific Position"

Beijing Unitalen Law Firm represented HUATECH SEMICONDUCTOR, INC in filing a revocation request with the CNIPA regarding the layout design with registration number BS.185008003. Upon receiving the revocation request, the CNIPA decided to initiate the revocation procedure. A collegiate panel composed of five senior experts was set up to conduct a thorough review of the case. Based thereon, the collegiate panel determined to revoke 13 out of the 14 points of originality claimed by the exclusive right holder. Due to its complexity and typicality, this case was selected as one of 2024 top ten cases of patent invalidation upon reexamination by the CNIPA.

Top 1 Series of Cases in Safeguarding MeiShe Software Copyright

Top 2 Unfair Competition Case of Tencent v. A Company for Data Crawling by Violating Robots Protocol in Search Operations

Top3 Infringement Case of MACO's Famous Trademark

Top4 Administrative Dispute Case of Announcement of Invalidation Against Trademark "Xiangxi Gold Tea (湘西黄金茶)"

Top5 Case of Liqui moly v. Zhejiang Youguan Limo Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. and Others for Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition

Top6 Administrative Litigation Case of Reexamination on Revocation of Trademark A

Top7 "Zhou Liu Fu" Trademark Infringement Case in Shangnan Country (Shaanxi Province)

Top8 Invention Patent Safeguarding and Invalidation Defense Case for Automotive Seat Angle Adjuster of AVIC HUBEI AVIATION PRECISION MACHINERY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

Top9 Patent Infringement Dispute and Invalidation Case Involving A World-Renowned Automotive Powertrain Manufacturer

Top10 Revocation Case of Integrated Circuit Layout Design for HUATECH SEMICONDUCTOR, INC

On April 21, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court unveiled the 2024 top ten typical cases of intellectual property judicial protection. Among them, the case of Shanghai Yishijie Information Technology Group Co., Ltd. (represented by Unitalen) v. Xiamen Linbei Interactive Entertainment Technology Co., Ltd., Fuzhou Dongyou Network Technology Co., Ltd., and Modo (Xiamen) Technology Co., Ltd. for the dispute over copyright infringement and unfair competition arising from the game "Dongyou Monopoly (动友富翁)" was successfully selected.

Jointly hosted by China Intellectual Property News and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Office in China, the "2025 High-level Forum on China IP Protection" was successfully held in Beijing from April 21 to 22. SHEN Changyu, Commissioner of the CNIPA; GONG Ming, Deputy Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate; SUN Shuo, Vice Mayor of Beijing; and Mr. Kenichiro Natsume, Assistant Director General of the WIPO, all attended the forum.

Unitalen Partner GUO Huayu was invited to attend the forum, and with a keynote speech and a roundtable discussion at the sub-forum on "IP Protection of AI & Construction of Innovation Ecosystem," GUO discussed with other distinguished guests about the significant role of artificial intelligence technology and the challenges faced by it in IP protection and the construction of an innovation ecosystem.