On March 13, 2025, China’s State Council issued new regulations regarding resolving foreign-related IP disputes. These comments discuss how the regulations might be used to encourage Chinese government responses to foreign government and judicial agencies’ actions against Chinese companies defending or asserting their rights overseas.
Some Observations on SAMR’s New Antimonopoly Guidelines for SEPs
SAMR’s new Antimonopoly Guideline for SEPS suggests possible new enforcement pathways for the agency, including areas that may be of concern to foreign licensors.
SAMR’s “Choreography” of SEP AML Rulemaking
How should one understand the overlapping rules enacted by SAMR on IP, SEPS and antitrust? Is a new wave of legislation under way? Is China planning on ramping up antitrust enforcement in SEPs? What do these legislative experiments portend in terms of China’s commitments to rule of law and the challenges faced by high tech companies – whether implementer or licensor in China?
Antimonoply Law Resources in English
A roundup of recent English language resources on antimonopoly law reform and comments on new rules from SAMR.
The Pushmi-Pullyu of Chinese Anti-Suit Injunctions and Antitrust in SEP Licensing
The sharp drop in granting of Antisuit Injunctions by Chinese judicial authorities and the recent amendments to China’s Antimonopoly Law and related rules, suggest that China may have begun to reprioritize the Antimonopoly Law in FRAND rate-setting disputes.
Bureaucracy and Politics in Recent SAMR Legislation
There are numerous heirarchies to Chinese legislation and IP laws are certainly not an except to this. Due to the government reorganization in 2018, Chinese efforts to become an innovative economy, and external political pressure from the Trade War, there has also been extensive external political pressure on Chinese IP legislative efforts. The different approaches to legislating may indicate potential weaknesses in the laws. They may also be the outcome of internal bureaucratic struggles.
A Season of CNIPA Rulemaking
Several new rules from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation portend a more active role for administrative enforcement of patents, in both patent linkage and major disputes affecting Chinese national interests. How much due process do these rules afford? Are they compatible with the TRIPS Agreement? Will foreigners be treated fairly? Will the administrative agencies be transparent in their decisions and make their cases publicly available. SAMR’s database of IP cases is also relatively new.
There are a number of open issues.
IPO Comments on the Trade Secret Rules
The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) has submitted bilingual comments to SAMR on the draft Trade Secret Rules 《商业秘密保护规定（征求意见稿) 》. The comments are found here and at the IPO website I blogged […]
SAMR’s Draft Trade Secret Rule: An Unchartered Step Forward?
As previously discussed, SAMR released a draft trade secret protection rule for public comments on September 4 (the “Rule”). Comments are due October 18, 2020. I have attached here a draft translation […]
SAMR Releases Legislative Work Plan for 2020
On 26 March 2020, SAMR released its Legislative Work Plan for 2020 (“2020 Legislative Plan”) 国家市场监督管理总局2020 年立法工作计划. In 2020, 7 draft laws and administrative regulations行政法规, including the Amendment to the Detailed Rules […]
China IPR - Intellectual Property Developments in China 