Chinese

Chinese Rights Lawyer Lu Siwei Sentenced to 11 Months After Deportation and Closed-Door Trial

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CHENGDU, China — Lu Siwei, a prominent Chinese rights lawyer who faced international attention for his legal work, has been sentenced to 11 months in prison after a private trial concluded Friday, according to his wife, Zhang Chunxiao. The Chenghua District Court in Chengdu also imposed a 10,000 yuan ($1,370) fine on Lu, who was charged with illegal border crossing. Lu, 52, was apprehended in the Lao capital of Vientiane in July 2023 when attempting to join his family in the United States, despite possessing a valid U.S. visa and Chinese passport. He was detained … Read more

Chinese Court Awards Record Intellectual Property Damages in Groundbreaking Automotive Trade Secret Case

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Beijing, China – A landmark decision by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on June 14, 2024, assigned a record-breaking amount of damages for an intellectual property infringement in China, involving a heated dispute between two major domestic car manufacturers. The battle which centered around the misappropriation of technical trade secrets for new energy vehicle chassis has concluded with punitive damages being doubled on appeal. This case, presided over by Judge Chen Wenquan, has not only resulted in a multibillion-yuan award but also set a precedent for intellectual property rights enforcement in China’s rapidly evolving automotive … Read more

Chinese Antitrust Expert Calls for Stricter Scrutiny of Patent Licensing in Tech Innovations

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Shenzhen, China – Amid the complexity of patent laws and antitrust scrutiny, industry experts grapple with evaluating what constitutes fair use of patents that are critical to establishing industrial standards. At an intellectual property conference held in Shenzhen today, Huang Wei, an experienced antitrust lawyer and partner at Tian Yuan Law Firm, emphasized the need for a meticulous approach to scrutinize licensing practices of standard-essential patent holders. Huang pointed out the dual challenges of determining whether the royalty rates imposed by patent holders are justified, and if the refusal to license these patents to certain … Read more

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Chinese Firm’s Appeal on International Application of Trade Secrets Act

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Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by a Chinese firm over the application of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, sparking conversations and concerns about the global reach of U.S. law. The decision effectively lets stand lower court rulings that have weighed heavily on the territorial limitations of the statute, which is central to protecting U.S. businesses against international theft of trade secrets. The Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) was enacted to provide a federal legal framework for the prevention of espionage and theft of commercial … Read more