"Intellectual Property Protection by Chinese Courts in 2020" Published by Supreme People's Court

Civil IP cases - infringement, ownership disputes, etc.

In 2020, courts across China received 443,326 first-instance cases and concluded 442,722 cases, an increase of 11.1% and 12.22% respectively over 2019, wherein there were 28,528 patent cases (28.09% up); 78,157 trademark cases (19.86% up); 313,497 copyright cases (6.97% up).

Chinese courts received 42,975 second-instance cases (13.54% down) and concluded 43,511 cases (10.67% down).

Administrative IP cases - appeal against IP offices decisions

In 2020, Chinese courts received 18,464 first-instance cases (14.44% up) and concluded 17,942 cases, 4 cases more than 2019, wherein there were 1,417 patent cases (14.69% down); 17,035 trademark cases (17.83% up); 12 copyright cases, 4 cases less than 2019.

Chinese courts received 6,092 second-instance cases (16.59% down) and concluded 6,183 cases (4.06% up), wherein the first-instance courts' decisions were upheld in 4,828 cases and overturned in 1,214 cases.

Criminal IP cases

In 2020, Chinese courts received 5,544 first-instance cases (5.76% up) and concluded 5,520 cases (8.77% up). Chinese courts received 869 second-instance cases (7.55% up) and concluded 854 cases (5.82% up).

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