China issued "Regulations of the State Council on the Handling of Foreign-related Intellectual Property Disputes"
Today, the State Council of China issued Decree No. 801, "Regulations of the State Council on the Handling of Foreign-related Intellectual Property Disputes," which will come into force on May 1st this year.
Article 14 of these regulations stipulates that the foreign trade department of the State Council may, in accordance with the "Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China," conduct investigations into the following matters and take necessary measures:
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(2) Where an intellectual property right holder engages in any of the acts such as preventing the licensee from challenging the validity of the intellectual property rights in the license contract, imposing a mandatory package license, or stipulating exclusive grant-back conditions in the license contract, and such acts undermine the fair competition order in foreign trade.
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Article 15: If a foreign country, in violation of international law and the basic norms of international relations, uses intellectual property disputes as a pretext to contain and suppress China, adopts discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese citizens and organizations, and interferes in China's internal affairs, the relevant departments of the State Council may, in accordance with laws such as the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Relations" and the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Countering Foreign Sanctions", include organizations and individuals that are directly or indirectly involved in formulating, deciding on, and implementing such discriminatory restrictive measures in the countermeasures list and take corresponding countermeasures and restrictive measures.
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Article 17: Relevant departments of the State Council shall strengthen coordination and cooperation. In case of acts that undermine China's sovereignty, security, and development interests by taking advantage of intellectual property disputes, corresponding measures shall be taken in accordance with laws such as the National Security Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Relations, and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Countering Foreign Sanctions. In case of acts such as abusing intellectual property rights to exclude or restrict competition or engaging in unfair competition, they shall be handled in accordance with laws such as the Anti-monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China and the Law of the People's Republic of China against Unfair Competition.
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Last July, the Ministry of Justice of China publicly solicited opinions on the "Regulations of the State Council on the Handling of Foreign-related Intellectual Property Disputes (Draft for Public Comment)".