China strengthens patent, investment laws

China has reformed its laws for the protection of intellectual property rights by raising fines for violations.

The patent reforms, which are part of the draft made by the legislature through the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, is meant to address difficulties in collecting evidence in patent lawsuits.

According to Reuters, violators of the new law could pay up to 100,000 yuan (S$19,900) to five million yuan (S$994,180) when the loss and benefit to patent holders and the violators cannot be determined. The current fine range is 10,000 yuan to one million yuan.

The penalty for infringement has also been increased from 10 years to 15 years.

Similarly, in a bid to temper trade tensions with USA and other countries, China in March produced a new investment law to take effect from January 1, 2020, according to the South China Morning Post.

“The law attempts to address outstanding concerns from foreign investors, such as unfair treatment in terms of market access and government procurement, forced technology transfer to Chinese partners and the theft of commercial secrets from foreign businesses in China.”

“It was amended this week to make it clear that officials will be obliged to protect commercially confidential information they obtain from overseas businesses. The law will make it illegal for officials to misuse critical information or to provide it to local firms,” the report said.