Industry News

Visitors interact with a robot from Unitree Robotics during the sixth China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, April 14, 2026. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top prosecutor said it has strengthened judicial protection of intellectual property (IP) in emerging industries to help boost the country's innovation capacity and high-quality growth.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate on Wednesday released 10 model IP cases covering chip manufacturing, photovoltaic new energy and industrial software.

These cases can provide guidance on issues such as determining the nature of trade secret infringement, protecting software-based technical measures, and handling service trademark disputes, the SPP said.

China's annual National IP Publicity Week kicked off on Monday, themed on strengthening IP protection in emerging sectors like artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology, with the aim of accelerating the development of new quality productive forces.

The SPP on Tuesday also issued an annual white paper on combating IP crimes. It showed that procuratorates nationwide accepted and reviewed more than 11,000 cases involving over 25,000 people suspected of crimes related to IP rights in 2025. Prosecutors filed charges in 9,135 cases involving over 19,000 people.

It noted that prosecutors have focused on emerging and future industries such as next-generation information technology, AI, new energy, high-end equipment and biomedicine. By strengthening criminal judicial protection for enterprises' original innovation and core technologies, they have helped foster a better legal environment for achieving high-level self-reliance in science and technology.

According to China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), the country will nurture emerging industries and industries of the future, and "improving the IP protection system in emerging fields" was included in this year's government work report.

Rapid economic and technological development demands higher standards for handling cases related to IP. Prosecutors will step up judicial IP protection, continue to improve the environment for innovation and business, and better serve high-quality economic and social growth, the SPP said.