The Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court on Increasing the Punishment on Intellectual Property Infringement According to Law were promulgated in 2020 and entered into force on 14 Sept. 2020.

There are 16 articles in total, which aim to increase the punishment on intellectual property infringement.

The key points are as follows:

1.Order to stop the infringement in advance: for cases where the infringement facts are clear and the infringement can be established, the court can order to stop the infringement in advance according to law.

2.Conduct preservation: for infringement or imminent infringement on intellectual property rights, the right holder can apply for the conduct preservation. If the right holder also applies for an advance judgment to stop the infringement while applying for the conduct preservation, the court shall examine the two applications together.

3.The infringer bears the burden of proof on profit made from infringement: if the right holder requests the court to determine the compensation amount based on the profit made from infringement and has presented evidence therefor, the court may order the infringer to present evidence in his possession related to the profit made from infringement; if the infringer refuses to present evidence or fails to do so as required without justifiable reasons, the court may determine the compensation amount according to the claim of the right holder and the available evidence.

4.Maximum compensation: under certain circumstances, the court may, according to the claim of the right holder, determine the legal compensation amount by approaching or reaching the maximum limit.

5.Depriving the opportunity of second infringement: the court should confiscate the illegal gains and strengthen the application of pecuniary penalty, so as to deprive criminals of the ability and conditions of infringing intellectual property rights again.