Registration is now open for the second in the “Towards a Deeper Understanding” series regarding SEPs in China. This next session will focus on “Concurrent Litigation and Jurisdictional Competition”, including the “hot” […]
Mark Cohen (柯恒)
Mark Allen Cohen (柯恒) is a Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a Guest Professor at Renmin University, China. He has served as the Senior Counsel, China for the USPTO. Formerly, he was Director of International Intellectual Property Policy at Microsoft Corporation. Prior to that time, he was Of Counsel to Jones Day's Beijing office. Before then, he served as Senior Intellectual Property Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and as Attorney-Advisor in the Office of International Relations at USPTO. In total, he has nearly 30 private, public sector, in house and academic experience on IPR issues in China. This is his private blog. This blog represents the opinions of the author(s) only, and should not be construed as the position of any employer, client, or other party, including (and especially) the US government.
u-blox v Techtotop: China’s Developing Jurisprudence on Evidentiary Burden Shifting
Hangzhou court makes cutting edge decision in July 2021 in copyright case of u-blox v. Techotop by drawing adverse inferences as to copying based on Defendant’s refusal to produce code to challenge prima facie evidence of infringement, relying on a 2001 Judicial Interpretation.
Reviewing Recent Literature on the WTO and Antitrust in IP
Two books, China and the WTO: Why Multilateralism Still Matter (Mavroidis and Sapir), and Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism (Zhang) consider trade and competition law aspects of the U.S.-China trade dispute. They discuss the treatment of state-owned enterprises under international trade and domestic competition law rules. They also discuss IP-specific issues, particularly forced technology transfer by or for the state and the control of abusive technology licensing practices, including the licensing of standards essential patents and China’s discriminatory Administration of Technology Import/Export Regulations (“TIER”), which has since been amended. The books and article are part of several academic and popular discourses on the disruptive and unpredictable policy agenda of the Trump administration, which also provide cautionary roadmaps for future engagement – or confrontation – with China.
Rethinking US IP Diplomacy: The Role of Civil Remedies
US trade diplomacy is under-emphasizing civil remedies. Increasing criminal IP enforcement can be inconsistent with US domestic policies of utilizing criminal remedies when a civil remedy is inadequate as well as our international goals of protecting of IP as a private property right and incentivizing market mechanisms in economies such as China.
Synthesizing Developments on Linkage from the July 15 Berkeley Program
China’s new patent linkage regime involves parallel civil and administrative enforcement mechanisms. Innovative pharmaceutical companies should prepare for the possibility of generic challengers and determine which mechanism will best suit their purposes. Biologics are not protected under this new regime.
Patent Linkage Legislation Available for Today’s Program
There is still time to register for our program on patent linkage in China for today (July 15, 2021) at 5:00 PM. The registration link is here. Currently the speaker lineup includes: […]
Tech Policy Position Open at NorCal Asia Society
The Asia Society has posted a position for a Technology Policy Fellow in its Northern California office, which will also directly report to Kevin Rudd, the President of the Asia Society and […]
EU Files Request at WTO for Chinese Disclosure of SEP Cases and Practices
On July 6, 2021, the European Union filed an “Article 63.3” request at the WTO requesting further information on four SEP cases in China. publication of these importance cases will benefit all parties through increased transparency and disclosure of how China has evolved its policy in this contentious area.
Take Me Out to the Law Game: China’s Patent Linkage Doubleheader

Over the July 4 2021 weekend, NMPA and CNIPA promulgated patent linkage measures and the SPC promulgated its patent linkage JI. Draft measures for public comment had been released publicly. The timing of the release of these document suggests a continuing level of bureaucratic competition between the two agencies.
China’s New Blocking Statute Comes into Effect
The NPC passed China’s new blocking statute, the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law 中华人民共和国反外国制裁法 on June 10, 2021. The Law provides support for the delegation of power to enable lower-level agencies to implement sanctions measures. As the Law is vaguely worded, State Council agencies are likely to have considerable discretion in implementing it. Of particular concern to multinational companies, the Law also covers spouses and immediate family members as well as officers of listed sanctioned entities.