The Supreme People's Court released typical cases of punitive damages for intellectual property righ

In March 2026, the Supreme People's Court released 10 typical cases of punitive damages for intellectual property rights, covering multiple areas including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and unfair competition. These included key cases such as the aforementioned Treasury Wine Estates' "Penfolds" trademark infringement case and Jinse Seed Industry's "Jinjing 818" variety rights infringement case. The cases released clarified the applicable conditions and calculation standards for punitive damages, emphasizing the severe crackdown on malicious, repeated, and large-scale infringements. They clarified that for acts with obvious subjective malice and serious circumstances, punitive damages should be applied according to law, significantly increasing the cost of infringement. The Supreme People's Court explicitly stated that it will continue to strengthen judicial protection of intellectual property rights, improve the punitive damages system, severely curb malicious infringement, provide strong judicial guarantees for technological innovation and brand development, and promote a positive social atmosphere that respects intellectual property rights and protects innovation.

The Supreme People's Court's release of typical cases on punitive damages for intellectual property rights is a significant measure to strengthen judicial protection of intellectual property rights and increase the crackdown on malicious infringement. It demonstrates my country's firm commitment to protecting intellectual property rights and encouraging innovation, and provides important guidance and incentives for enterprises to protect their intellectual property rights. As a professional intellectual property agency, our company deeply understands that the improvement and implementation of the punitive damages system can effectively curb malicious infringement, reduce the cost of rights protection for enterprises, and enhance their confidence in protecting their rights. In practice, many enterprises struggle to obtain sufficient compensation after intellectual property infringement due to low costs of violating the law, thus affecting their enthusiasm for rights protection. The release of these typical cases clarifies the applicable scenarios and calculation standards for punitive damages, providing clear guidance for enterprises to protect their rights. Our company reminds enterprises that when encountering intellectual property infringement, if they discover malicious infringement, repeated infringement, or large-scale infringement, they should promptly engage professional agencies and lawyers to collect evidence of malicious infringement and claim punitive damages in accordance with the law to maximize the protection of their legitimate rights and interests. Our company can provide enterprises with full-process services including infringement evidence collection, punitive damages claims, and litigation, helping enterprises to protect their rights in accordance with the law and combat malicious infringement.

Attorney Liu Fenglong's professional commentary: The core legal points of this case are the applicable conditions and calculation standards for punitive damages in intellectual property rights, which have significant guiding significance for judicial practice and corporate rights protection: First, it clarifies the prerequisites for applying punitive damages, requiring the simultaneous fulfillment of two conditions: "obvious subjective malice" and "serious infringement." Subjective malice includes intentional infringement, knowingly continuing infringement, and maliciously exploiting another's goodwill, while serious infringement includes large-scale infringement, repeated infringement, long duration of infringement, and causing serious losses. Second, it clarifies the calculation standards for punitive damages, using the rights holder's actual losses, the infringer's illegal gains, or licensing fees as the base, and determining the punitive damages multiplier according to the circumstances of the infringement, significantly increasing the cost of infringement. Third, the publication of this typical case provides a reference for courts at all levels in handling such cases, points the way for corporate rights protection, and helps to create a sound judicial environment where "infringement will be investigated and violations will be punished."

Lawyers advise that in the process of protecting intellectual property rights, companies should focus on collecting evidence of malicious infringement, including the infringer's subjective intent, the continuity of the infringement, the scope of the infringement, and the losses caused, to lay the foundation for claiming punitive damages. At the same time, they should leverage the expertise of professional lawyers to accurately apply legal rules, assert their rights in accordance with the law, and ensure that they receive full compensation. In addition, companies should strengthen their own intellectual property protection, plan ahead for establishing rights, establish an infringement monitoring mechanism, and promptly detect and curb infringement to avoid losses at the source.