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ARTICLE · 20 APRIL 2026

China Releases 2025 Typical IP Cases

China's Supreme People's Court released ten landmark intellectual property cases from 2025, covering trademark distinctiveness, patent infringement in chip technology, trade secret theft, unfair competition through employee poaching and data scraping, and criminal prosecution of counterfeiters. These decisions establish important precedents for balancing innovation incentives with public interests while demonstrating China's commitment to strengthening IP protection in the digital economy.

ChinaIntellectual Property

On April 20, 2026, the Supreme People's Court of China held a press conference as part of Intellectual Property Publicity Week and released a set of typical IP cases decided by courts in 2025.

Case 1

Administrative Case on Distinctiveness of a Phrase Mark: Company A vs. China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), Administrative Dispute over Refusal of Trademark Application

Supreme People’s Court, (2025) Zui Gao Fa Xing Zai No. 200

[Factual Background]

Company A filed an application for the trademark "乔治勋爵的悲剧 (literal translation: The Tragedy of Lord George)" with the CNIPA on June 24, 2021, designating such goods as “toilet water; eau de Cologne; perfumes” in Class 3. Meanwhile, several trademarks such as "蓬帕杜夫人的茶杯 (literal translation: Madame de Pompadour's Teacup)", "花花公主的秘密 (literal translation: The Playful Princess’s Secret)", "莎菲女士的日记 (literal translation: Miss Saffy's Diary)" and "奥德利夫人的秘密 (literal translation: Lady Audley's Secret)" have already been

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