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ARTICLE · 16 OCTOBER 2026

News & Cases From China: August 2026

This article provides a comprehensive overview of significant intellectual property developments in China during August 2026, including amendments to copyright law interpretations, patent and trademark statistics, and landmark legal cases involving copyright infringement and AI-related evidence manipulation. The updates cover regulatory changes by the Supreme People's Court, CNIPA's statistical releases, and notable court decisions that set important precedents for IP enforcement in China's digital economy.

ChinaIntellectual Property

SPC Amends Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Copyright Disputes

Date: 20 August 2026

The SPC issued the Decision on Amending the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Copyright Dispute (Fa Shi [2026] No. 18), which was adopted at the 1976th Meeting of the Adjudication Committee of the SPC on 25 May 2026, and will take effect on 1 September 2026. The principal amendments are as follows:

  • Clarifying what is meant by a work being made ‘available to the public’. The qualifying phrase ‘by the copyright owner on his/her own initiative or upon the permission of the copyright owner’ has been deleted from Article 9 of the previous Interpretation. As a result, a work will be made available to the public even if its disclosure is the result of an infringing act committed by another person.

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