Authored by: Liu Cheng , Xu Jing , Jin Xiaotian , Jiang Hanxue and Wang Haobo
On November 8, 2024, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”) released the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for Standard Essential Patents (“Guidelines”).
In alignment with China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”), the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Field of Intellectual Property Rights (“IP Guidelines”) and the Provisions on Prohibiting the Abuse of Intellectual Property to Exclude or Restrict Competition (“IP Provisions”), the Guidelines build on the legislative efforts to reconcile the intellectual property rules and the antitrust rules, with the objective of promoting competition and innovation. Furthermore, the Guidelines provide additional clarification regarding the antitrust rules that pertain to the process of standard setting and implementation.