Intellectual property: China’s evolution from ‘norm taker’ to ‘norm setter’
- A deeper look at intellectual property protection in China reveals a changing landscape as the country strengthens legal provisions and new battlegrounds emerge
- China has growing interests in IP, while the US Trade Representative is assessing its progress on commitments under the two countries’ phase one trade deal
This is the second in a series of reports on Chinese intellectual property as Beijing seeks to make IP protection a central part of its new development strategy.
Take civil lawsuits on patent disputes. In 2019, there were 22,722 new cases filed to Chinese courts, while US district courts had 3,280 new patent cases.
Nearly 90 per cent of the 3,176 new intellectual property (IP) lawsuits filed last year to the Supreme People’s Court’s IP court alone were between domestic Chinese parties, underscoring growing awareness of IP at home.
07:38
Unpacking the ‘phase one’ deal for the US-China trade war
China’s improvements in IP protection – long a cause of complaint from its trade partners and foreign firms operating in the country – have been driven not only by trade negotiators but also by its growing interests in IP and its innovation strategy.
Growing stakes have prompted China to be more assertive in international or extraterritorial IP disputes, in addition to accelerating advancements in technologies and the digital economy, all of which have shifted IP friction to new battlegrounds.
