China Trade Secret Litigation Report by Rouse

Rouse, one of the leading law firms specializing in Intellectual Property in the entire world with many renowned lawyers have just published the China Trade Secret Litigation Report to provide the readers with some in-depth knowledge about the litigation status in China, especially concerning trade secret.

Rouse operated as a closely integrated network with more than 600 people working out of 18 offices in 13 countries.

Accordingly, the Report was also made by Rouse experts with its partners, in this case, the Lusheng law firm. Together, they analyzed the trade secret litigation cases published in China.

Rouse examines a selection of published trade secret cases in their CIELA database from the senior courts, highlights key statistics, and provides commentary and insights on how China’s courts approach the protection of trade secrets.

Trade secrets

In China, a trade secret is a special type of Intellectual Property asset. Accordingly, it is protected by many different laws.

Specifically, trade secrets are protected under Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (“AUCL”). 

The latest development or amendment to the AUCL came into effect on 23 April 2019. 

The amendment focused on the expansion of the ambit of legal protection for trade secrets.

Additional legislation was provided by Supreme People’s Court Regulations (“SPC Regulations”) containing guidelines on the application of law in civil trade secret cases, replacing an earlier Judicial Interpretation, and a corresponding Supreme People’s Procuratorate and SPC Judicial Interpretation on criminal cases.

As these regulations were issued separately, readers can consult on the detailed review of the Amendments, SPC Regulations, and some early court decisions that apply this new legislation in a report from IP Key “Study on Trade Secrets”.

On the basis that the readers have adequate knowledge about the legislation, or are provided in the “Study on Trade Secrets” report, the China Trade Secret Litigation Report by Rouse will only provide some data and commentary on the impact that this new legislation may be having on court decisions.

China Trade Secret Litigation Report

The China Trade Secret Litigation Report has been limited to decisions issued in recent years, specifically, from 1 January 2015 to 31 March 2022. 

This is because the development of China has been so fast on a daily and weekly basis, that decisions made several years ago are less representative of the present state. 

This report, unlike previous CIELA reports, was limited to analysis of decisions only from the senior courts (i.e., Higher People’s Courts and the Supreme People’s Court) as these decisions tend to be more authoritative, detailed and representative of current jurisprudence.

Basically, the report by Rouse will conclude that trade secret litigation in China has historically been rare and somewhat challenging for plaintiffs, with only a minority of cases where the plaintiff achieved a notably strong result. 

However, this phenomenon might change in recent times and in the upcoming near future as a shift is noticeable with the Amendments and SPC Regulations.

The changes in many experts’ opinions will give the parties and courts more powerful means to uncover and deal with trade secret infringements. 

Readers, if encountered with IP infringement cases in general or trade secret infringement in particular, may consult China’s recent legislation and court decisions as a framework on how to make such measures most legally effective.

The report was authored by Chris Bailey, Rouse Principal, Sophia Hou, Principal of Lusheng Law Firm (Strategic Partner of Rouse), Aria Tian, Head of the China Research Unit of Lusheng Law Firm (Strategic Partner of Rouse), Julie Zhao of China Research Unit of Lusheng Law Firm (Strategic Partner of Rouse), and Roslyn Lai, Rouse Legal Writer & Researcher.

The report can be downloaded here.

***Other Articles***

– You could see How To Register Trademark in China here.

– You could visit here to see Procedure of Trademark in China.

– You could visit here to check Required documents of filing trademark in China.

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