China’s punitive damages system in the field of intellectual property was first embodied in the revised Trademark Law in 2013, and was incorporated into the revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law in 2019.  In recent years, with China gradually strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, a consensus has been reached in the industry to establish a punitive damages system in the field of intellectual property comprehensively.  In the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China enacted in 2020, the punitive damages system in the field of intellectual property is generally stipulated.  Correspondingly, both the Copyright Law and the Patent Law revised in 2020 stipulate a system of punitive damages ranging from one to five times, which is consistent with the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law revised in 2019.  The punitive damages system in the field of intellectual property in China has been basically established as such.  However, the provisions on punitive damages in the Civil Code and various laws on intellectual property rights are silent about specific and explicit guidelines for application, and are different form each other in terms of wording and content to some extent, which leads to certain difficulties in practical application.  In order to better implement the punitive damages system for intellectual property rights, the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court passed the Interpretation on the Application of Punitive Damages in the Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter referred to as the “Interpretation”) on February 7, 2021, which came into force on March 3, 2021.  The Interpretation, consisting of seven articles, specifies the applicable scope, content and timing of claims, determination of “intentional” and “serious circumstances”, as well as determination of the calculation base and fold to calculate the punitive damages in civil cases of intellectual property rights.  The key articles of the Interpretation are hereby commented on as follows for readers’ reference.
Continue Reading Brief Review of the Interpretation on the Application of Punitive Damages in the Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights