Incidental to World IP Day (April 26), the China National Intellectual Property Administration (“CNIPA”) and other national authorities have released data on the results of IP protection work during 2024.

Details follow below, but the highlights are as follows:

• Trademark applications in 2024 decreased by 7% compared to 2023.  The reduction quite likely the result (at least in part) of recent CNIPA policies designed to deter excessive filings and encouraging higher-quality IP registrations.  In this regard, it is noteworthy that the percentage of trademark applications that were approved (rather than rejected) in 2024 increased to 71%, as compared to 61% in the prior year.

• The number of approved invention patent applications in China in 2024 increased to 1.05 million, representing an increase of 13.5% over 2023.  

• By the end of 2024, Chinese inventors owned over 4.76 million valid invention patents.  Chinese inventors now hold more patents than those in any other country.

• Chinese inventors also secured over 130,000 patents outside of China in 2024, double the number in 2020.

• Prosecutions and convictions of IP crimes – mainly trademark counterfeiting cases – increased by almost 20%, with courts concluding 9,003 first-instance cases. No information has been published on the number and proportion of cases resulting in custodial sentences as compared to suspended sentences or fines.

• Market Supervision Bureaux (MSBs) handled 44,000 administrative IP cases involving RMB1.129 million ($155 million) in infringing goods.   The MSBs also transferred 1,311 mainly counterfeiting cases to Chinese police for criminal investigation.

• Foreign plaintiffs filed over 4,252 civil actions in China in 2024, with 19% of cases settled through mediation.  Civil actions by foreigners have increased by an average of 24% each year for the last four years.

• In 2024, courts imposed punitive damages against IP infringers in a larger number of cases.  

IP RIGHTS REGISTRATION

Trademarks

• In 2024, 6.68 million trademark applications were examined, with 71.2% having been approved (4.78 million).  The total amount of trademarks approved for registration was 9.1% higher than that in 2023.   

Notably, the number of applications filed in 2024 decreased by 7% from the prior year, likely due to CNIPA’s policies intended to reduce the overall number of applications and registrations.

• As of the end of 2024, the number of valid trademark registrations in China was 47.62 million, 3.2% higher than in 2023.  

• The number of Madrid Protocol applications filed by Chinese companies grew in 2024 to 7,039, a year-on-year increase of 13.6%.  This makes China the third biggest user of the Madrid system.

• Between January and June 2024, CNIPA took various actions against 205,000 malicious trademark registration cases.  The nature of these actions has not been explained, but they no doubt include rejection of applications by mass filers.

• CNIPA’s Trademark Review and Adjudication Division handled 383,000 trademark appeal cases in 2024.  The Trademark Office also handled 103,000 opposition cases.

• Trademark examinations were generally conducted between four and seven months after filing, while the average time required for opposition decisions to be issued remained at 10 months.  Meanwhile, application appeals in straightforward cases were generally decided in 6.5 months, while decisions in more complex cases took 10.5 months.

Patents

• 1.05 million invention patents were granted throughout 2024, representing an increase of 13.5%.

• 75,000 international patent applications were filed under the PCT, representing an increase of 7.7%.

• 4,868 international industrial design patents applications were filed under the Hague Agreement, an increase of 29.5% from 2023.  China now ranks first among all countries globally in such applications.

• By the end of 2024, China had approximately 4.76 million valid domestic invention patents, making it the first country in the world to surpass the four million invention patents.

• Chinese inventors secured 130,000 overseas patents in 2024, which is double the number in 2020. The number of applicants in 2024 was 16,000, representing a 72% increase from 2020.

• The number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people in China reached 14, achieving the target set for the national 14th Five-Year Plan ahead of schedule.

• 67,000 cases of patent reexamination and invalidation were concluded in 2024 with the average examination period for cases involving invention patents reduced to 15.5 months.

• The number of domestic enterprises holding valid invention patents reached 497,000, marking an increase of 14% over the prior year.

• In 2024, IP authorities at all levels handled 72,000 administrative patent infringements and assisted mediation bodies in dealing with 140,000 mediations of IP disputes.

• By the end of 2024, China held 60% of the world’s AI patents. CNIPA began providing fast-track application procedures for patents in core AI fields.

Copyright & Other

• The total number of copyright registrations issued in 2024 reached 10,630,610, an increase of 19.13% over the prior year.  About 28% of the total (2,827,213) were registrations for computer software.

• 11,000 integrated circuit layout designs were registered and certified in 2024.

• In 2024, 36 geographical indictors were recognized, and 125 collective or certification trademarks were registered.

• 5,797 new plant varieties were granted.

IP UTILIZATION

• 613,000 patent transfer and licensing transactions were filed, up nearly 30% from 2023.

• Over 15,000 patents were granted open licensing.

• The industrialization rate of valid invention patents held by enterprises was 53.3%, up 2% from the prior year.

• The added value from patents in patent-intensive industries amounted to RMB 16.87 trillion (US$2.35 trillion) in 2023, accounting for 13.04% of China’s total GDP, up 0.44% from the previous year.

• Copyright industries in China generated RMB 9.38 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) in added value in 2023, up 4.52% from 2023, and accounting for 7.44% of total GDP.

• The direct output value of products covered by geographical indications exceeded RMB 960 billion (US$132 billion).

• Payments of IP royalties reached a record high in 2024, with total payments on both imports and exports being RMB 398.71 billion (US$55 billion), up 5.9% from the prior year.

IP ENFORCEMENT

Judicial Enforcement

• In 2024, Chinese courts at all levels accepted 529,370 new IP cases (down 2.67% from 2023) and concluded 543,911 IP cases (about the same as 2023.).

Civil IP Cases

• By subject matter:
  
  
  • 44,255 patent cases (down 1.02%)
  • 124,918 trademark cases (down 4.95%)
  • 247,149 copyright cases (down 1.8%)
  • 8,320 technology contract cases (up 28.16%)
  • 10,567 competition-related cases (up 3.29%), and
  • 14,714 other types of civil IP disputes (down 16.53%).

• Broader implementation of punitive damages:

• Courts nationwide granted punitive damages in 460 cases of malicious infringement involving serious circumstances, an increase of 44.2% over 2023.

• The Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court itself issued punitive damages in 18 large-scale cases in 2024, with the total damages awarded being RMB 873 million (US$ 120 million).

• In one infringement case involving patented technology for new energy vehicles, punitive damages were awarded in the amount of RMB 640 million (US$89.6 million).

• In another case involving infringement of trade secrets related to CETs, the court awarded punitive damages of RMB 160 million (US$22.4 million).  In this case, the infringing party had secretly established a competing company and misappropriated and used the other company’s trade secrets for over 10 years.

• Administrative (mainly appeals of registry cases): a total of 20,849 first-instance cases were accepted (up 1.29%) and 27,745 cases were concluded (up 24.19%), including:
  
  
  • 1,679 patent cases (down 15.63%);
  • 19,130 trademark cases (up 3.08%),
  • 9 copyright cases; and
  • 31 other types of cases.

Judicial Cases

• Anti-unfair Competition: In 2024, courts nationwide concluded 10,000 cases involving unfair competition (trade secret infringement, collusive bidding, etc.), marking a 0.7% rise compared to the previous year.

• Foreign-related IP cases: In 2024, courts nationwide received 8,252 first-instance cases involving foreign parties.  This number has increased an average of 23% each year for the last six years.  In 2024, 19% of such cases were the subject of mediations leading to the withdrawal of the case.

• The number of cases involving film copyright decreased by 43.3% in 2024, with the decline attributed to improved results in ADR.

Criminal IP Enforcement

• In 2024, Chinese police filed and investigated over 37,000 cases involving IP infringement and/or the manufacture and sale of counterfeit goods.  

• Police also handled 157 trade secret involving AI technologies.

• In 2024, courts nationwide received 9,120 first-instance cases (up 24.34%) and concluded 9,003 cases (up 29.22%), including:

• Trademark counterfeiting: 8,079 cases accepted (up 21.7%) and 8,017 cases concluded (up 26.1%).

• Copyright: 938 cases accepted (up 49.6%) and 913 cases concluded (up 68.14%).

• Patent counterfeiting: 1 case accepted and 2 cases concluded.

• Other (including trade secret): 102 cases accepted (up 39.7%), and 71 cases concluded (up 7.5%).

• In 2024, prosecutors prosecuted IP crimes in 9,452 cases involving 20,817 individuals, representing an increase of 17.4% from the prior year.

• Most criminal IP cases involved trademark (81%), followed by copyright (9.7%) infringements, with average annual growth rates of 18.8% and 43.5%, respectively.

• Breakdown of criminal cases by type category:

• Production/use of counterfeited trademarks: 1,796 cases, with 2,933 individuals arrested, and 3,520 cases and 7,554 individuals prosecuted.

• Sale of counterfeit goods:  arrests in 1,959 cases involving 2,962 individuals; prosecutions in 3,841 cases involving 8,290 individuals.

• Production/sale of trademark representations:  279 cases, with 425 individuals arrested, 574 cases prosecuted with 1,577 individuals prosecuted.

• Copyright infringement:  arrests in 336 cases involving 539 individuals; prosecution of 860 cases involving 1,879 individuals.

• Trade secret violations:  arrests in 72 cases, involving 131 individuals; prosecutions in 91 cases involving 220 individuals.

• Patent counterfeiting:  prosecutions in one case, involving two individuals.

Administrative Enforcement

• MSBs nationwide handled 44,000 administrative IP cases involving RMB1.13 million ($155 million).   The MSBs transferred 1,311 cases (mainly counterfeiting matters) to Chinese police for criminal investigation.

• In April 2024, SAMR launched the Protecting Intellectual Property Special Enforcement Campaign (2024–2025), a two-year nationwide initiative targeting IP infringement. The campaign focuses on two themes: brand protection and geographic indications.  Results reported by April 2025 include the following:

• Foreign-invested enterprises: Over 3,000 cases investigated, involving infringing goods valued at RMB 490 million (US$67.6 million); 159 of these cases were transferred to the police for criminal investigation.

• Geographical indications: 1,407 infringement cases handled involving goods valued at RMB 9.8 million (US$1.4 million); 89 cases transferred to the police for criminal investigation.

• IP agency misconduct: investigations conducted into 267 agencies responsible for “irregular” trademark filings; five of these cases transferred to the police.

• SAMR also conducted a special campaign in 2024 targeting online infringements, resulting in investigations into 36,000 cases, of which 381 were transferred to the police for investigation.

• Copyright authorities nationwide conducted 683,800 on-site inspections, handling 3,219 infringement and piracy cases.

• A nationwide campaign led by the SAMR resulted in the simultaneous destruction of infringement/counterfeit goods across more than 200 categories (including apparel, bags, food, and drugs), totaling 3,300 tons with a value of RMB 330 million (US$45.5 million).

Customs

• Customs authorities conducted 53,200 inspections for IP compliance, detaining 41,600 shipments of infringing goods, involving 81.6 million items. 

• Customs also approved the recordal of 21,614 IP registrations in its system, an increase from 19,009 in the prior year.

• Customs authorities approved 21,614 applications for recordal of IP rights involving applicants from 58 countries, among which 16,034 were domestic filers, representing a 24.2% increase from the prior year.

• Customs authorities accepted 141 applications for general bonds (up 12.8%).

• 41,300 shipments involving 76.39 million items were detained for suspected infringement of trademark rights, accounting for 99.5% the total detained shipments.

• Customs cases involving infringements of patents and copyrights grew significantly in 2024, with 249,000 items detained for patent infringement and 4.9959 million items detained for copyright infringement, up 71% and 393%, respectively.

• 99.17% of detentions occurred during export, rather than import.

• The top three categories of infringed goods seized by customs were apparel and footwear, electronics, and leather goods.  

Public Interest Cases Related to IP

• In 2024, prosecutors received 1,004 public interest litigation reports involving IP and went on to file 896 cases, including 734 administrative complaints (81.9%) and 162 civil actions (18.1%).

• 400 cases (44.6%) involved trademark counterfeiting and infringement of geographical indications.

• The number of anti-unfair competition cases increased substantially, with 60 cases filed (up 81.8% year-on-year).

• Punitive Damages: Prosecutors raised punitive damage claims in 34 cases (up 36%), accounting for 37.8% of all civil public interest lawsuits.