Intellectual Property Protection by Chinese Courts in 2025, released by the Supreme People’s Court on April 20, shows that in 2025, people’s courts across the country received 552,600 new intellectual property cases of various types and concluded 539,600 of them. Key quality and efficiency indicators, including the rate of cases concluded within the statutory trial period, the appeal rate, and the civil mediation and withdrawal rate, continued to improve, with the overall trial performance remaining stable. Among these, 64,000 first-instance civil cases involving technical intellectual property were concluded. People’s courts strengthened technological protection in fields such as integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, high-end instruments, foundational software, advanced materials, and biological manufacturing, achieving positive results.
People’s courts have strengthened their adjudication of intellectual property cases in emerging fields. Civil cases involving cutting-edge issues such as AI-generated content and AI model parameters have been properly heard. A total of 908 disputes concerning data ownership and transactions were concluded, representing a year-on-year increase of 25.6%. The Supreme People’s Court is accelerating the drafting of its guidelines on the proper adjudication of disputes involving artificial intelligence, with the aim of promoting the healthy and orderly development of AI in a beneficial, safe and fair direction.
In the protection of trademark rights, people’s courts have safeguarded the trademark registration order in accordance with the law, supported administrative authorities in rejectingbad-faith trademark registration applications filed without intent to use, and declared the invalidation of trademarks registered by other improper means. Courts have actively and prudently applied provisions of the Trademark Law governing the protection of well-known trademarks, prohibiting unauthorized trademark squatting by agents, and prohibiting the infringement of prior rights, thereby curbing bad-faith trademark registrations. At the same time, the full-chain protection of trademark rights has been strengthened. Last year, courts concluded 115,300 first-instance civil cases of trademark infringement and 8,033 first-instance criminal cases of trademark crimes, with particular emphasis on enhancing judicial protection for well-known trademarks, traditional brands, geographical indications, and time-honored brands (Laozihao). In addition, acts such as free-riding and counterfeiting have been punished in accordance with the law, effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of trademark owners.
In the adjudication of foreign-related intellectual property disputes, people’s courts have adhered to the principle of equal protection of the legitimate rights and interests of both domestic and foreign parties, and have enhanced the quality, efficiency, and credibility of foreign-related IP adjudication. In 2025, courts received 11,066 new first-instance foreign-related IP cases, a year-on-year increase of 34.1%.
Key Data on Intellectual Property Cases in Chinese Courts Nationwide in 2025
In 2025, courts across China received 552,600 new intellectual property cases of various types, including first-instance, second-instance, and applications for retrial, and concluded 539,649 cases (including cases carried over from previous years, the same below), representing a year-on-year increase of 4.39% in new filings and a decrease of 0.78% in concluded cases compared with 2024.
People’s courts across the country received 473,411 first-instance civil intellectual property cases and concluded 460,422 such cases, increasing by 5.22% and 0.68% respectively compared to 2024. Among these, there were 52,177 newly received patent cases, up by 17.9% year-on-year; 121,133 trademark cases, down by 3.03% year-on-year; 259,248 copyright cases, up by 4.9% year-on-year; 11,782 technology contract cases, up by 41.61% year-on-year; 11,684 competition-related cases, up by 10.57% year-on-year; and 17,387 other civil intellectual property disputes, up by 18.17% year-on-year (see Figures 1 and 2). People’s courts across the country received 24,515 second-instance civil intellectual property cases and concluded 25,754 such cases, decreasing by 19.59% and 19.66% respectively year-on-year.
People’s courts across the country received 27,451 first-instance administrative intellectual property cases and concluded 25,899 such cases, increasing by 31.67% and decreasing by 6.65% respectively compared to 2024. Among these, there were 3,070 newly received patent cases, up by 82.85% year-on-year; 24,334 trademark cases, up by 27.2% year-on-year; 27 copyright cases, up by 200% year-on-year; and 20 other cases, down by 35.48% year-on-year (see Figures 3 and 4). People’s courts across the country received 11,097 second-instance administrative intellectual property cases and concluded 11,472 such cases, decreasing by 4.88% and increasing by 5.5% respectively compared to 2024. Among these, 10,063 cases affirmed the original judgment, 1,071 cases had the original judgment reversed, 0 cases were remanded for retrial, 184 cases were withdrawn, 3 cases were mediated, and 151 cases were disposed of by other means.
People’s courts across the country received 9,018 first-instance criminal intellectual property cases and concluded 9,248 such cases, decreasing by 1.12% and increasing by 2.72% respectively compared to 2024. Among these, there was 1 newly received criminal case of patent counterfeiting, with 0 cases concluded; 7,862 newly received criminal cases involving registered trademark infringement, with 8,033 cases concluded, decreasing by 2.69% and increasing by 0.2% respectively year-on-year; 1,071 newly received criminal copyright infringement cases, with 1,113 cases concluded, increasing by 14.18% and 21.91% respectively year-on-year; and 84 newly received other criminal cases, with 102 cases concluded, decreasing by 17.65% and increasing by 43.66% respectively year-on-year (see Figures 5 and 6). People’s courts across the country received 1,153 second-instance criminal intellectual property cases and concluded 1,179 such cases, increasing by 3.69% and 10.39% respectively year-on-year.
