The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) assesses the intellectual property (IP) protection standards of its trading partners annually through the Special 301 Report. China has been listed on the Priority Watch List for 20 consecutive years. Since 2019, Partner Jian GUAN’s legal team has represented clients in the Special 301 Investigation, highlighting progress in China’s IP protection and refuting false allegations against China’s IP protection regime in the Special 301 Report. Written submissions prepared by the Grandwin legal team were adopted by the U.S. side on multiple points, prompting a comprehensive review of China’s IP protection landscape and effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese clients.

Each year, the USTR releases the Special 301 Report to evaluate China’s IP protection environment. With nearly one hundred pages per edition, the report covers more than a dozen areas, including technology transfer, trade secrets, manufacturing, counterfeit goods, copyrights, patents and related policies, as well as China’s “security and controllability” policies, bad-faith trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications, among others, in which it comments on and criticizes China’s IP protection practices. These remarks touch upon legislative, judicial and law enforcement fields, requiring an enormous amount of work for analysis and commentary, while the time window for submitting comments is relatively limited.

The legal team compiled an overview of advancements in China’s IP protection, comprehensively elaborating on progress in China’s IP protection, landmark developments in IP legislation, continuous improvement in administrative IP law enforcement, strengthened judicial protection of IP rights, and the ongoing relaxation of market access thresholds for foreign investors. This constituted a highly professional and labor-intensive task.

The legal team focused its work on two core aspects: first, quickly identifying the key concerns reflected in the report; second, sorting out the main reasons for the removal of countries from the U.S. Priority Watch List and Watch List, and identifying breakthrough points. Meanwhile, the team summarized recent developments in typical cases concerning China’s IP legislation, law enforcement and judiciary, and introduced China’s investment and achievements in publicity, training, education and technical cooperation related to IP protection. Through years of consistent submissions, relevant misunderstandings have been clarified, significantly deterring the United States from imposing unilateral sanctions against China amid escalating China-U.S. trade frictions.

This case goes beyond the outcome of an individual dispute. Through professional legal arguments and data-driven diplomacy, it secured a fair voice within the U.S.-led assessment system and provided a regulatory buffer for Chinese enterprises participating in global competition.

Note: This case belongs to the Partner team's portfolio and is not a case of Grandwin.