The “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement” has been effective since April 26, 2025

Regarding the application of law in criminal cases of IP infringement, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (hereinafter referred to as the “Two Heads”) previously issued three judicial interpretations in 2004, 2007, and 2020. With the emergence of new, complex, and high-tech criminal acts involving IP infringement, the “Criminal Law Amendment (XI)” in 2021 significantly revised the provisions on crimes related to IP infringement. Against this backdrop, on January 19, 2023, the Two Heads released the “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement (Draft for Comment)” for public consultation. After more than two years, the Two Heads promulgated the “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement” (Fa Shi [2025] No. 5) on April 23, 2025, which took effect on April 26 and replaced the aforementioned 3 judicial interpretations and the “Reply of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Issues Concerning Audio and Video Products in Handling Criminal Cases of Copyright Infringement” (Fa Shi [2005] No. 12) (collectively referred to as the “original judicial interpretations”). 

Given the extensive content of the “New Interpretations”, we only introduce the key revisions related to criminal cases of trademark infringement. 

  1. To add the criteria for determining “Identical Services”

The original judicial interpretations provided detailed rules for determining “identical goods,” but considering that trademark use covers both goods and services, the “New Interpretations” adds criteria for determining “identical services,” which are defined as: “Services with different names but identical or substantially identical from the perspective of purposes, contents, methods, objects, or venues, and generally regarded as the same type of service by relevant consumers.” 

  1. To add circumstances which shall be determined as “Serious Circumstances”

For acts of infringing goods trademarks, Fa Shi [2025] No. 5 adds a new circumstance for determining “serious circumstances”, that is, re-committing the acts specified in Articles 213 to 215 of the Criminal Law within two years after being subject to criminal punishment or administrative penalties, with illegal gains exceeding CNY20,000 or illegal business volume exceeding CNY30,000. 

For acts of infringing service trademarks, the “New Interpretations” for the first time specifies 3 specific circumstances for determining “serious circumstances”: (1) illegal gains exceeding CNY 50,000; (2) counterfeiting two or more registered trademarks with illegal gains exceeding CNY 30,000; (3) re-committing the acts specified in Articles 213 to 215 of the Criminal Law within two years after being subject to criminal punishment or administrative penalties, with illegal gains exceeding CNY 30,000. 

  1. To revise criteria for determining “Especially Serious Circumstances”

The original judicial interpretations set quantitative standards for “especially serious circumstances” as follows: (1) illegal business volume exceeding CNY 250,000 or illegal gains exceeding CNY 150,000; (2) counterfeiting two or more registered trademarks with illegal business volume exceeding CNY 150,000 or illegal gains exceeding CNY 100,000. The “New Interpretations” revises these standards to require illegal gains or illegal business volume to be 10 times of the thresholds for “serious circumstances. This significantly raises the starting point for sentencing in cases with “Especially Serious Circumstances”. 

  1. To add new specific circumstances for determining “Knowledge”

The “New Interpretations” adds 3 specific circumstances for determining “knowledge” : (1) Having been criminally punished for selling counterfeit registered trademark goods and then selling the same type of counterfeit goods again; (2) Purchasing or selling goods at a price significantly lower than the market price without justifiable reason; and (3) After being discovered by administrative or judicial authorities for selling counterfeit registered trademark goods, transferring or destroying infringing goods, accounting vouchers, or other evidence, or providing false certifications. 

  1. To revise criteria for determining “Knowingly Selling Counterfeits”

Firstly, the standard for determining “Large Amount” in “Knowingly Selling Counterfeits” is revised from sales exceeding CNY 50,000 to illegal gains exceeding CNY 30,000. 

Secondly, the criteria for determining “Other Serious Circumstances” are revised to include: (1) Sales exceeding CNY 50,000; (2) Re-committing the acts specified in Articles 213 to 215 of the Criminal Law within two years after being subject to criminal punishment or administrative penalties, with illegal gains exceeding CNY 20,000 or sales exceeding CNY 30,000; and (3) Where counterfeit registered trademark goods have not been sold but their inventory value reaches 3 times of the sales standards in the preceding two items, or where the sales of sold goods are below the standards but the combined sales and inventory value reaches 3 times of the standards. 

Thirdly, the criteria for determining “Extremely Large Illegal Amount or Other Especially Serious Circumstances” are set at 10 times of the corresponding standards for illegal gains, sales, inventory value, or their combined amount. 

  1. To revise criteria for forging, unauthorized manufacturing, or selling registered trademark logos

The “New Interpretations” adjusts the quantity thresholds for forging, unauthorized manufacturing, or selling others’ registered trademark logos as follows: 

  • Single trademark: Quantity reduced from 20,000 pieces to 10,000 pieces; illegal gains threshold reduced from CNY 50,000 to CNY 20,000; illegal business volume remains unchanged at CNY 30,000.
  • Two or more trademarks: Quantity reduced from 10,000 pieces to 5,000 pieces; illegal gains threshold reduced from CNY 30,000 to CNY 10,000; illegal business volume remains unchanged at CNY 20,000.
  • The standard for selling illegally manufactured registered trademark logos manufactured by others is revised from “combined quantity of sold and unsold logos exceeding 60,000 pieces (when sold quantity is less than 20,000 pieces)” to 3 times of the relevant quantity thresholds.

The “New Interpretations” also adds a new “serious circumstances” scenario, that is, re-committing the acts specified in Articles 213 to 215 of the Criminal Law within two years after being subject to criminal punishment or administrative penalties, with logo quantity exceeding 5,000 pieces, illegal gains exceeding CNY 10,000, or illegal business volume exceeding CNY 20,000. The criteria for “especially serious circumstances” are set at 5 times of the corresponding quantity, illegal gains, or illegal business volume thresholds. 

  1. To set the definition of “Two or More Registered Trademarks”

The “New Interpretations” defines “Two or More Registered Trademarks” as two or more trademarks that identify different sources of goods or services. Where different registered trademarks are used on the same goods or services to indicate the same source, they shall not be deemed “Two or More Registered Trademarks”.”