On Monday, May 4, 2026, the 2026 China Case Law Update is held during the 148th annual meeting of the International Trademark Association.

The session spotlights the most influential intellectual property decisions from Chinese courts. Dr. Huang Hui, Partner and Management Committee Member of Wanhuida Intellectual Property, moderates the session, in his capacity as a senior expert in the INTA China Case Law Project. The panelists parse recent Chinese case laws highlighting several interesting trends:

• Efforts to break the impasse of tightened absolute grounds examination and malicious lawsuits.
• New offshoots in the protection of non-traditional brand elements across emerging technologies like extended reality (XR), wearables, and AI-powered platforms.
• A kitchen-sink approach to tackle copycat and considering whether design patents, copyright, unfair competition or all combined offers the best route of trade dress protection.
• A more refined methodology of damages awards calculation and the actionable strategy for criminal incidental civil litigation.

Dr. Huang Hui and his fellow panelists (L1)

The session aims to help global brand owners and IP practitioners stay ahead of recent legislative developments and case trends indicating future brand protection strategies.

The INTA China Case Law Project team also leverages the opportunity to launch the INTA China Case Law Annual Review 2026.

The publication takes a bird’s-eye view of milestone cases, ranging from prosecution to litigation, and cutting across bad-faith filing, imposed sanctions, and injunctive relief. It aims to provide insider analysis and to help practitioners navigate the complex legal, regulatory, and strategic challenges of the dynamic China trademark system.