China Vows to Further Consolidate IP Protection Measures

The General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council of China jointly published Opinions on Strengthening Intellectual Property Protection (“Opinion”) on November 24, 2019, with the purpose of effectively deterring the occurrence of IP infringement by 2020. The Opinion provides specific and concrete guidelines to strengthen IP protection and addresses a series of long-standing issues in IP litigation that frequently prevents right holders from enforcing their rights. These issues include difficulty in obtaining evidence, length of proceedings, high litigation cost, and low monetary damages. This is a clear effort to move China forward as a more friendly judicial and business environment for IP right holders, including international companies with IP interests in China.