IP Tribunal of Supreme People's Court Awarded Punitive Damages of $295 Million Over the Past Seven Years

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On January 28, 2026, the Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC) held a press conference to summarize the results of intellectual property cases decided since the establishment of its Intellectual Property Tribunal on January 1, 2019. Notable data highlighted during the conference included the application of punitive damages, which reflects China’s increased emphasis on strengthening intellectual property protection in recent years.  Over the seven years since its inception, the Intellectual Property Tribunal has applied punitive damages in a total of 58 cases, with the cumulative amount awarded in punitive damages reaching 20.5 billion CNY (nearly 295 million USD).  This translates to an average award exceeding 35 million CNY (about 5 million USD) per case.

Although the Intellectual Property Tribunal has only a seven-year history, the establishment of punitive damages within China’s intellectual property legal system occurred earlier.  By way of background, key milestones in the development of punitive damages in China’s IP laws include:

• May 1, 2014: Implementation of the amended Trademark Law, introducing punitive damages of up to three times the base amount for malicious and serious trademark infringement;

• April 23, 2019: Implementation of the amended Anti-Unfair Competition Law, introducing punitive damages of up to five times the base amount for intentional and serious trade secret infringement;

• November 11, 2019: Implementation of the amended Trademark Law, raising the upper limit for punitive damages in trademark infringement cases to five times;

• January 1, 2021: Implementation of the Civil Code, formalizing a general rule for applying punitive damages to intentional and serious intellectual property infringement;

• March 3, 2021: The SPC issued a judicial interpretation specifically addressing the application of punitive damages in intellectual property civil cases;

• June 1, 2021: Implementation of the amended Patent Law and the amended Copyright Law, respectively introducing punitive damages of up to five times the base amount for intentional and serious patent infringement and copyright infringement.

During the press conference, a deputy chief judge of the Intellectual Property Tribunal stated that while compensation amounts have been increased for cases involving high levels of innovation and significant harm from infringement, appropriate lower awards are applied for cases involving general innovation levels and minor infringement circumstances. Compared to cases with awards exceeding tens of millions CNY, the majority of cases currently still result in awards below one million CNY.