China’s 2025 IP Reform and Two Key Enforcement Cases
2025 Legislative Plan: Draft amendments to (a) Trademark Law and (b) Provisions on Foreign-Related IP Disputes
On May 14th, 2025, China’s State Council released its 2025 Legislative Plan (国务院2025年度立法工作计划), which outlines plans to revise important laws and regulations related to intellectual property, including, inter alia:
Draft amendments to the Trademark Law (商标法修订草案), which will be submitted by the National Intellectual Property Administration to the NPC Standing Committee for deliberation;
Provisions of the State Council on the Settlement of Foreign-Related Intellectual Property Disputes (国务院关于涉外知识产权纠纷处理的规定), which will be submitted by the Ministry of Justice, the National Intellectual Property Administration, and the Ministry of Commerce to the State Council deliberation.
Updated: May 14th, 2025, Source: Chinese Gov Website
Official: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2JGDR1jnYN66r2GjHKn_ow?scene=25#wechat_redirect
Top 10 Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Law Enforcement for 2024
On April 29th, 2025, SMAR published the Top 10 Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Law Enforcement for 2024, which included two cases related to luxury brands.
Case VI: Administration for Market Regulation of Fuyang City (Arc’teryx, The North Face, Adidas, Gucci, Lululemon, Amy, Balenciaga)
From January to April 2024, the Administration for Market Regulation of Fuyang City, Anhui Province, along with other authorities, launched an investigation in Ningbo, Anqing, Bozhou, Chizhou, Lu'an, Cangzhou, Langfang, and other cities to seize a large number of infringing garments. More than 20 facilities for production, storage, and sales were successfully dismantled.
It was discovered that since September 2019, Mr. Gu, without the permission of the trademark owners, had copied the fabrics and auxiliary materials of various famous branded garments, created counterfeit logos, and commissioned factories in multiple provinces and cities to produce garments infringing on trademarks such as “Arc'teryx,” “The North Face,” “Adidas,” “Gucci,” “Lululemon,” “Amy,” “Balenciaga,” and others. The illegal revenue exceeded RMB 200 million.
In April 2024, Mr. Gu and others were prosecuted for the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks related to the large-scale counterfeiting activities. The court found sufficient evidence of trademark infringement and convicted six individuals, while 15 others remain under prosecution.
Case IX: Administration for Market Regulation of Youyang City (LV, Balenciaga and Dior)
In January 2024, the Administration for Market Regulation of Youyang City, Chongqing Province, discovered during a routine inspection that goods branded as “Balenciaga,” “Dior,” and “LV” sold by a store were suspected of counterfeiting registered trademarks. After an investigation, it was found that since 2019, Mr. Zhou and others had set up processing factories in Guangdong Province to produce counterfeit clothing, bags, and shoes, which were then sold through e-commerce platforms, offline stores, and online social media.
From April to May 2024, the Administration for Market Regulation, along with relevant authorities, conducted investigations in Chongqing, Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, and other provinces. They dismantled five counterfeit “black factories” and 18 “black dens,” seizing more than 75,000 pieces of counterfeit clothing and bags, more than 20,000 pieces of semi-finished products, and 80 counterfeit equipment. The illegal revenue amounted to more than RMB 300 million.
Updated: April 29th, 2025, Source: SAMR Website
Official: https://www.samr.gov.cn/xw/zj/art/2025/art_a9a9de9d612a49458e6fc15456ee64b5.html