China's IP Developments in 2023 and Beyond

January 22, 2024 | BY

Susan Mok

2023 was a significant year for the development of legislation and case law on intellectual property rights in China, as explored by Aggie Liu, Partner, and Hao Meng, Associate, from FenXun, which operates a joint legal platform with Baker McKenzie in China

Summary

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  • China is continually strengthening its legislative and enforcement actions in combating malicious trademark filings
  • In recent cases, the Chinese courts have shown willingness to grant enhanced protection to both domestic and foreign renowned IP right holders
  • China's first AI-generated image copyright infringement case demonstrates a notable openness towards extending copyright protection to AI-generated images
  • More stringent standards appear to have been applied in granting protections over famous commodity packages or decorations
  • China is applying more comprehensive rules to prohibit the abuse of IP rights

Overview of intellectual property rights protection in China

In September 2023, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the Global Innovation Index 2023. China ranks 12 out of 132 economies and remains the only middle-income economy among the top 30. In particular, compared with 2022, China has overtaken the United States and for the first time become the country with the most science and technology clusters ranked among the top 100.

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