Supreme People’s Court Releases 2024 Report on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property in China

     On April 21, 2025, ahead of the 25th World Intellectual Property Day, the Supreme People’s Court of China held a press conference to mark National Intellectual Property Week. During the event, it released the China Courts Intellectual Property Judicial Protection Report（2024） and announced 2024 People’s Court Intellectual Property Typical Cases. The report highlights major progress made throughout the year in innovation protection, institutional development, and international cooperation.
     The following key data on intellectual property cases in national courts in 2024 were announced at the press conference:
     According to the report, courts across China handled a total of 529,370 new IP cases (first-instance, second-instance, and retrial applications) in 2024, while 543,911 cases were concluded (Including legacy cases. Same below), reflecting a slight 2.67% year-on-year decrease in new cases and a negligible 0.001% increase in concluded cases compared to 2023.
     The courts nationwide received 449,923 new first-instance civil intellectual property cases and concluded 457,315 cases, down 2.65% and 0.65% from 2023, respectively. Among them, 44,255 new patent cases were received, down 1.02% year-on-year; 124,918 new trademark cases, down 4.95% year-on-year; 247,149 new copyright cases, down 1.8% year-on-year; 8,320 new technology contract cases, up 28.16% year-on-year; 10,567 new competition cases, up 3.29% year-on-year; and 14,714 other intellectual property civil dispute cases, down 16.53% year-on-year. The courts nationwide received 30,486 new second-instance civil intellectual property cases and concluded 32,055 cases, down 18.08% and 17.2% year-on-year, respectively.
     The courts nationwide received 20,849 new first-instance intellectual property administrative cases and concluded 27,745 cases, up 1.29% and 24.19% respectively from 2023. Among them, 1,679 new patent cases were received, down 15.63% year-on-year; 19,130 new trademark cases, up 3.08% year-on-year; 9 new copyright cases, down 2 cases from 2023; 31 new other cases, up 29.17% year-on-year. The courts nationwide received 11,666 new second-instance intellectual property administrative cases and concluded 10,874 cases, up 16.04% and 17.44% respectively from 2023. Among them, 9,420 cases were upheld, 1,091 cases were revised, 2 cases were sent back for retrial, 207 cases were withdrawn, 4 cases were mediated, and 150 other cases.
     The courts nationwide received 9,120 new first-instance criminal cases of intellectual property infringement and concluded 9,003 cases, up 24.34% and 29.22% respectively from 2023. Among them, 1 new criminal case of patent passing-off was received and 2 cases were concluded; 8,079 new criminal cases of registered trademark infringement were received and 8,017 cases were concluded, up 21.78% and 26.11% year-on-year; 938 new criminal cases of copyright infringement were received and 913 cases were concluded, up 49.6% and 68.14% year-on-year; 102 new other criminal cases were received and 71 cases were concluded, up 39.73% and 7.58% year-on-year. The courts nationwide received 1,112 new second-instance criminal cases of intellectual property rights and concluded 1,068 cases, up 16.32% and 10.67% year-on-year respectively.
     The Supreme Court also unveiled eight representative IP cases from various levels of the judiciary, covering areas such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition, and trade secrets. The cases spanned industries including biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and online gaming, showcasing the courts’ role in encouraging innovation, maintaining fair competition, and promoting cultural prosperity. These typical cases further clarified the relevant adjudication rules and demonstrated the leading, standardizing and safeguarding role of judicial adjudication in the development of the industry.

(Excerpt from the press conference of the Supreme People's Court)

Comments:
     The 2024 China Courts Intellectual Property Judicial Protection Report released by the Supreme People's Court is not only a summary of the judicial work of the previous year, but also reveals the new trends and deep logic of intellectual property protection. According the data, the current judicial protection has shifted from simple dispute resolution to the construction of an innovative ecosystem. In the links of technical investigation, compliance prevention, and industry standard formulation, professional institutions such as patent agencies have shown a deep coordination trend with judicial organs.
     First, technology contract cases (up 28.16%) and competition cases (up 3.29%) grew against the trend, reflecting the increased market innovation activity, but it also means that it is more difficult to ascertain technical facts. In the declaration of patent invalidation and like, professional roles such as technical investigation officers play a basic supporting role in the case trial. For example, the successful adjudication of the biopharmaceutical patent infringement in the typical cases must rely on the support of professional judicial appraisal institutions and a technical expert database.
     Secondly, the sharp increase in intellectual property criminal cases in 2024 (trademark criminal cases increased by 26.11%, copyright criminal cases increased by 68.14%) reveals an important trend: corporate enforcement strategies are shifting from civil claims to a dual-track system of "civil + criminal". The technical means of professional institutions in electronic evidence collection and infringement chain analysis provide key breakthroughs for police investigations. For example, before initiating criminal proceedings, right holders usually need to conduct market surveys, infringement evidence collection, and evidence chain construction through professional investigation companies to ensure that public security organs can take prompt action after filing a case.
     It is worth noting that there is still a 9.2% revision rate (1,091 cases) in second-instance administrative cases of intellectual property rights, which reflects that there is still room for improvement in the legal argumentation of trademark refusal reexamination, patent invalidation declaration and other cases. The quality of appeals by professional agencies in trademark refusal cases directly affects judicial efficiency. The increase in the mediation rate of technical contract cases reflects the role of professional mediation organizations as a lubricant in judicial mediation. In the future, with the implementation of systems such as "preliminary judgment" of trade secrets and refinement of the applicable conditions for punitive damages, the service capabilities of professional institutions in pre-litigation evidence fixation, infringement risk assessment, and technical secret protection will become an important supplement to the judicial protection system.
     Since 2023, many of our colleagues have served as technical investigation officers in dozens of judicial and administrative cases of all kinds, accumulating rich experience and playing an important role in the technical fact-finding process. In the next few days, the Supreme People's Court will successively release the "Annual Report on the Application of Law in Intellectual Property Cases in National Courts", the annual report of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court, the summary of judgments, etc. We will continue to pay attention to this.

 (Provided by Ge Zhenyi, Research Institute of SPTL)