Intellectual Property Administrative Enforcement in China

Intellectual property (IP) infringement is a grave concern of multinational companies operating in China. Piracy is rife, and the loss of one's investment in developing IP can seriously hurt a company. As such, there are several methods of enforcing IP rights in China. Not only can a party sue in court for infringement or register its rights with Customs to prevent the export of infringing articles, an aggrieved party can also use the route of administrative enforcement, which tends to be fast and inexpensive. While administrative enforcement cannot give an IP right holder monetary damages, it nonetheless should be considered when speed and cost are issues and/or when the infringer may not have assets to satisfy a judgment.