On April 13, 2021, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court (hereinafter referred to as the ¡°SIPC¡±) held a press conference to report on the trials of unfair competition cases from 2015 to 2020, and released a white paper and typical cases.

According to the press conference, from 2015 to 2020, the SIPC accepted a total of 950 cases of unfair competition, accounting for 6.2% of the total intellectual property cases in the same period. The number of cases concluded reached 850, showing an overall upward trend, with an average annual growth of 21.2%. In terms of case type, counterfeiting cases accounted for 72%, and trade secret infringement cases accounted for 14.3%. There were also cases of false publicity, discrediting, and other acts of unfair competition as well as cases with two or more of the above-mentioned unfair competition acts.

The white paper indicates unfair competition cases mainly show the following characteristics: First, unfair competition acts were intertwined with other acts of IP infringement. Specifically, there were 363 cases of trademark infringement and unfair competition acts, and 137 copyright infringement and unfair competition acts, accounting for 52.6% of the total number of cases accepted. Second, the amounts of first instance action objects were high. To be specific, there were 24 cases with action object amount ranging from RMB 5 million yuan to RMB 10 million yuan, 29 cases with the action object amount exceeding RMB 10 million yuan, and 2 cases associated with technical secret disputes with action object amount exceeding RMB 235 million yuan. Third, there was a wide range of unfair competition acts related to the Internet, including both traditional and new type unfair competition acts in the context of Internet. Fourth, there is a large number of new-type, complicated and difficult cases with great social impact, including disputes over video click farming, disputes over unfair competition acts related to the live broadcast of e-sports game events, and disputes over unfair competition acts of hijacking browsers by technological means.

The press conference briefed on 12 typical cases, reflecting that the SIPC, in trying unfair competition cases, accurately defined the legal attributes of various kinds of market behaviors, stroke severe blows to counterfeiting and trade secret infringement behaviors, effectively prevented false publicity and discrediting, and regulated new type market competition behaviors according to law, actively promoting the sound development of the ¡°three new economies¡±, i.e. new technologies, new products and new business models, encouraging and protecting fair competition, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of operators and consumers. As a part of the results of the SIPC¡¯s vigorous implementation of the high-quality projects, these cases can effectively play the guiding role of the rules of the typical cases and guide the fair competition of market players.

Chen Yajuan, President of the SIPC, said the SIPC would pay more emphasis on the identification of unfair competition acts, the judicial protection of trade secrets and the innovation in trial mechanisms, apply punitive damages in a lawful and accurate manner, increase the amount of compensation for unfair competition acts committed in bad faith, prevent and punish all kinds of unfair competition acts in violation of the fairness, integrity principles and business ethics, leave room for the development of new technologies, business forms and models while strictly regulating unfair competition behaviors, so as to stimulate the vitality of innovation and the market with the vitality of competition. Also, President Chen Yajuan suggested that all sectors of society should work together to create a fair and healthy market competition order; market players should further raise their awareness in fair competition and rule of law, and improve their capacity in trade secret management and protection; trade organizations should strengthen the guidance and supervision of the role of good faith operation and fair competition; and law enforcement departments should establish a diversified coordination mechanism, in a view to forming a combined force in supervision and protection, and jointly create and share a fair and orderly market competition environment that conforms to the development of the times. 

Li Shulan, Vice President of the SIPC, presided over the press conference. Ling Song, Presiding Judge of Comprehensive Tribunal No. 1, and Qian Guangwen, Presiding Judge of Comprehensive Tribunal No. 2, attended the conference and answered reporters¡¯ questions.

The press conference was broadcast live on the Shanghai High People¡¯s Court¡¯s Weibo official account ¡°Pu Jiang Tian Ping¡±, Douyin, Kuaishou and Zhihu accounts, the SIPC¡¯s WeChat official account, Kankanews.com, ifeng.com and Netease, and was attended by reporters from more than 20 central and local news media both online and offline.

Trial of Unfair Competition Cases by Shanghai Intellectual Property Court (2015-2020).pdf

Typical Unfair Competition Cases of Shanghai Intellectual Property Court (2015-2020)