Recent Articles on Damages in China

Two recent articles in the Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property may be of interest to readers who follow developments in Chinese patent/SEP litigation.

1. Zhang Guangliang and Geng Bang have published An Active Exploration of Global Licensing Rate Adjudication Methods for Standard Essential Patents:  The Chinese OPPO v. Nokia Case, 15 Queen Mary J. Intell. Prop. 238 (2025).  Here is the abstract:

The decision rendered by the Chongqing First Intermediate People’s Court in OPPO v Nokia represents a landmark moment in the adjudication of global licensing rates for SEPs within the Chinese judicial system. This ruling not only expedited a resolution between the parties, who had been entangled in over 100 global SEP litigations for two and a half years, but also made significant advancements in the methodologies employed for determining global SEP licensing rates. The case achieved three pivotal breakthroughs in the context of 5G SEPs across global jurisdictions: it established the first ruling on the cumulative industry rate for 5G standards, determined the inaugural generational technical value ratio for multimode devices spanning 2G-5G and rendered the first adjudication of a global licensing rate for 5G multimode devices. This case has substantially enriched the frameworks for adjudicating global fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing rates and has further propelled the evolution of global adjudication rules governing FRAND licensing for SEPs.

2. Renjun Bian has published an article titled Explaining the ‘Low and Unexplainable’ Patent Damages in China:  An Empirical Analysis of 992 Judicial Opinions, 14 Queen Mary J. Intell. Prop. K. 405 (2024).  Here is the abstract:

Patent damages in China are commonly criticized as low and unexplainable, which raises concerns over the overall credibility of China’s patent system. This article describes and reports the results of a large-scale empirical analysis of 992 invention patent infringement lawsuits decided by Chinese courts between 2014 and 2018 with damages awarded. The results show that whether patent damages in China are low depends on the selection of standards. If compared with damages granted by courts in the United States or the expectations of patent holders, patent damages in China are undoubtedly low. However, if considering the patent holder’s actual losses – a more rational standard – the allegation of low patent damages does not stand. In addition, around 64.1% of the variations in patent damages in China can be explained by pre-selected ex ante factors, among which proxies for patent value and scale of infringement play an important role. These findings demonstrate that patent damages in China are not as low and unexplainable as commonly believed. Instead, the rather ‘low’ damages compared to their counterparts in the United States reflect the main body of patent infringement lawsuits between small entities over technology improvements on small widgets and goods in China. 

3. Also of interest, in regard to China and SEPs, is an essay by Michael Franzinger in today’s Law360, titled How WTO’s Anti-Suit Injunction Ruling Affects IP Stakeholders.  For my previous post on the recent ruling by a WTO arbitration panel, finding in favor of the E.U. in its case against China, see here.