In recent times China has become a very important and
lucrative jurisdiction in which to commercialise products. As such,
use of the patent system in China has also grown significantly in a
short period of time, and in ways that may surprise.
The amount of IP litigation in China is staggering and there
have been in recent years more than thirty thousand active IP
proceedings at any given time. The conventional understanding from
those in the Western world is that these proceedings involve
Western companies attempting to enforce patent and other IP rights
against Chinese companies. However, that view is somewhat outdated
as, increasingly, Chinese companies are looking to enforce their
own IP rights against both Western companies and other Chinese
companies. This rapid evolution of Chinese companies from contract
manufacturing to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) status
– accompanied by the building of large patent portfolios in
China by Chinese companies – together
