This blog reviews Zhao Ye’s report on trade secret adjudication by the SPC IP Tribunal. Based on 11 published cases from 2025, the report highlights a sharp increase in damages, systematic reversal of lower court decisions, expanded use of burden-shifting, and stronger sanctions for evidence spoliation. In my view, these decisions also function as a form of strategic signaling, indicating a more rights-protective orientation in judicial practice. However, they do not yet constitute binding, system-wide legal change, which would require further judicial interpretations or formal designation as guiding cases. The emerging judicial trends may make Chinese civil courts a more viable forum for trade secret enforcement.
Seeking Truth Through Facts in Innovation & US-China Relations
A brief essay that reflects on the meaning of “seeking truth through facts” (实事求是) as both a classical Chinese scholarly method and a contemporary challenge in U.S.–China policy discourse. Drawing on its origins in the Book of Han, its later use by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, and my own experience moderating an Asia Society program on innovation, the piece explores how facts are often distorted by politics, emotion, and narrative convenience. Using examples from intellectual property debates and the misuse of statistics, it argues that factual rigor remains indispensable, especially when facts challenge deeply held beliefs.
Counting and Discounting Patents – The USPTO Study on Patenting Activity in 5G
USPTO released a study on February 15, 2022 entitled “Patenting Activity among 5G Technology Developers”.
The Report uniquely “examines overall patenting trends as well as trends in patent filings and value indicators in the four most-patented 5G-related technologies. The Report does not fully consider China’s role as a major patent office in evaluating the quality of filings.
Fact and Fiction in the US-China IP Trade War
The Asia Society of Northern California is sponsoring a free webinar October 8 from 5-6:30 PM PST on “Fact and Fiction in the US-China IP Trade War” as part of its “Seek […]
Collaboration or Confrontation: Beyond the False Dichotomy in US-China IP Relations
Recently several writers have criticized the Trump administration’s strategic choice of confrontation over collaboration with China. Among them was an open letter published in the July 2, 2019, Washington Post, “China is Not […]
Further Trade-Responsive IP Legislative Developments May Be In the Works…
“When a stranger lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you […]
RIP VAN WINKLE RETURNS FOR THE TRADE WAR
A Modern Illustrated Political Fable By an Anonymous Folklorist Rip Van Winkle VIII, Esq, the great US government intellectual property and trade lawyer and descendant of the Hudson Valley Van Winkles, fell […]
How to Monitor an IP Trade Agreement with China
The following observations are drawn from a recent talk I gave at the US-China Business Council, which was called “IP in the Trade War: Strategies for a New Normal.” A video recap […]
A Statistical Snapshot of IP Prosecution, Admin. Enforcement and Monetization for 2018
As reported by zhichanli, CNIPA (the new agency formed from SIPO, SAIC and AQSIQ’s – IP authorities within the State Administration for Market Regulation) held a news conference on January 10 to […]
SO MANY CHINA IP CONFERENCES, SO LITTLE TIME…
Here’s a rundown of some past events, and some upcoming ones. I will provide an update on some of the legal developments at a later date (I know I have been a […]
China IPR - Intellectual Property Developments in China 