Annual Report of IP Court of Supreme People's Court 2024 (English Version) Published

Recently, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court of China ("the IPC") published the English version of its 2024 annual report. The following capture some of the key data related to adjudication of cases at the IPC in the year.

In 2024, the IPC handled a total of 6,229 technology-related IP cases and anti-monopoly cases (including 3,015 newly accepted and 3,214 previously pending) and concluded 4,213 cases. The number of pending cases was 2,016, seeing a decrease of 37.3% year-on-year. The average adjudication period for substantive cases was 253.9 days, a shortening of 11.5 days compared to the previous year.

The newly accepted cases consisted of 1,289 civil second-instance substantive cases and 1,366 administrative ones. And the number of newly accepted cases involving invention patent infringement was 818, accounting for over one-fourth of all newly accepted cases in 2024.

Regarding foreign-related cases, in 2024, 437 cases involving foreign party were filed with the IPC, accounting for 14.5% of all newly accepted cases of the year, and 373 cases of this kind were closed. Over the past six years, the number of newly accepted foreign-related cases has increased by an average of 23.2% annually. Reflecting its endeavour to resolve disputes through mediation, the IPC settled 71 cases through mediation or withdrawal in 2024, bringing the mediation/withdrawal rate to 19%.

In 2024, punitive damages were applied by the IPC in 18 cases, with the total amount awarded reaching RMB 873 million. Notably, in the technical secret misappropriation case of "New Energy Vehicle Chassis", punitive damages with a compensation of over RMB 640 million were granted, setting a new record for the amount of compensation awarded in IP misappropriation lawsuits in China, and specifying for the first time the calculation standards of penalty for delayed performance of non-monetary obligations.