As China's intellectual property rights (IPR) protection has seen significant progress over the past decade, foreign corporations increasingly seek IPR judicial protection in China, lawyers said.
Reasons for the trend include fairer outcomes for foreign firms, as foreign corporations may be awarded more in compensation and have a better chance at winning cases in China, lawyers noted.
China continues to strengthen IPR protection and has seen great progress in the past decade to support technological development and enhance economic competitiveness, said Wang Zhengzhi, senior partner at Globe-Law. The law firm released the "China IPR Indexes Report 2018" on Monday.
The amount awarded and percentage of lawsuits won have both risen in trademark and patent suits, the report showed. The percentage of cases won of trademark suits in 2018 reached 83.3 percent. The average award was 26.4 percent of claimants' requested amount, the report showed.
More foreign corporations are resolving to tackle their IPR complaints using legal rather than administrative means, Shang Jiaquan, senior partner at Globe-Law, told the Global Times on Monday.
The high amounts awarded and number of cases won have attracted foreign investments, Shang said.
A Chinese court recently ordered a sales ban on some older Apple iPhone models in China for violating two patents held by chip maker Qualcomm.
"Qualcomm could have filed the suit in many countries, but they chose China because of adequate IPR protection here,"Shang said.
In trademark suits in 2018, 91.7 percent of claimants employed lawyers, the report showed. The claimants' decision to hire lawyers also served as evidence of the improving environment for IPR protection in China, Shang said.
