Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the third meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on September 2, 1993)
Order No. 10 of the President of the People's Republic of China, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, was adopted by the Third Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on September 2, 1993, and is hereby promulgated and shall come into effect on December 1, 1993. President of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin September 2, 1993
Chapter 1 General Provisions
Article 1 This law is formulated to ensure the healthy development of the socialist market economy, encourage and protect fair competition, prevent unfair competition, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of operators and consumers.
Article 2 Operators shall abide by the principles of voluntariness, equality, fairness, honesty and credit in market transactions, and abide by generally recognized business ethics. The term “unfair competition” as mentioned in this Law refers to the behavior of operators that violate the provisions of this Law, damage the legitimate rights and interests of other operators, and disrupt the social and economic order. The operators referred to in this Law refer to legal persons, other economic organizations and individuals engaged in commodity operations or profit-making services (hereinafter referred to as commodities include services).
Article 3 People's governments at all levels shall take measures to stop unfair competition and create a good environment and conditions for fair competition. The administrative departments for industry and commerce of the people's governments at or above the county level shall supervise and inspect acts of unfair competition; if laws and administrative regulations provide for supervision and inspection by other departments, such provisions shall prevail. Article 4 The state encourages, supports and protects all organizations and individuals to conduct social supervision over unfair competition. State agency staff shall not support or cover unfair competition practices.
Chapter 2 Unfair Competition Behavior Article 5 Operators shall not use the following unfair means to engage in market transactions and harm competitors: (1) Counterfeiting other people's registered trademarks; (2) Using the unique name, packaging, and decoration of well-known goods without authorization, or using names, packaging, and decoration that are similar to well-known goods, causing confusion with other people's well-known goods, causing buyers to mistake them for the well-known goods; (3) Using other people's business names or names without permission to cause people to mistake them for other people's goods; (4) Forging or falsely using quality marks such as certification marks and famous quality marks on goods, forging the place of origin, and making misleading and false representations of the quality of goods.
Article 6 Public utility enterprises or other operators with an exclusive position according to law shall not restrict others from purchasing the commodities of their designated operators in order to exclude other operators from fair competition.
Article 7 The government and its departments shall not abuse administrative power to restrict others from purchasing the commodities of its designated operators or restrict the legitimate business activities of other operators. The government and its departments shall not abuse administrative power to restrict foreign goods from entering the local market, or the flow of local goods to foreign markets.
Article 8 Operators shall not use property or other means to bribe to sell or purchase goods. Those who secretly give kickbacks to other units or individuals outside the accounts shall be punished as bribes; those who secretly accept kickbacks from the other units or individuals outside the accounts shall be punished as accepting bribes. When an operator sells or purchases goods, he or she may give discounts to the other party in an explicit manner and may pay commission to the intermediary. If an operator gives discounts to other parties or commissions to intermediaries, they must be truthfully recorded in the accounts. Operators who accept discounts and commissions must truthfully record them in their accounts.
Article 9 Operators shall not use advertisements or other methods to make misleading and false propaganda about the quality, ingredients, performance, uses, producers, expiration dates, origins, etc. of goods. Advertising operators shall not act as agents, design, produce, or publish false advertisements without knowing or should have known.
Article 10 Operators shall not use the following means to infringe on business secrets: (1) Obtain the right holder's business secrets through theft, inducement, coercion or other improper means; (2) Disclose, use or allow others to use the right holder's business secrets obtained by the means mentioned in the preceding paragraph; (3) Violate the agreement or the right holder's requirements for keeping business secrets, disclose, use or allow others to use the business secrets in his possession. If a third party knowingly or should have known about the illegal acts listed in the preceding paragraph acquires, uses or discloses the business secrets of others, it shall be deemed as infringement of business secrets. The term "trade secrets" as mentioned in this article refers to technical information and business information that are not known to the public, can bring economic benefits to the right holder, are practical, and have been kept confidential by the right holder.
Article 11 Operators shall not sell goods at a price lower than cost for the purpose of squeezing out competitors. Any of the following circumstances does not constitute unfair competition: (1) Selling fresh goods; (2) Dealing with goods whose validity period is about to expire or other backlogged goods; (3) Seasonal price reduction; (4) Selling goods at a reduced price due to paying off debts, changing production, or going out of business. Article 12 When selling goods, operators shall not tie the goods against the will of the purchaser or attach other unreasonable conditions. Article 13 Operators shall not engage in the following prize-based sales: (1) Conduct prize-based sales by falsely claiming to have prizes or deliberately allowing designated personnel to win prizes; (2) Using prize-based sales to promote low-quality and high-priced goods; (3) Lottery-style prize sales, with the maximum prize amount exceeding 5,000 yuan.
Article 14 Operators shall not fabricate or spread false facts to damage the business reputation and product reputation of competitors.
Article 15 Bidders shall not collude in bidding, raise the bid price or lower the bid price. Bidders and tenderers shall not collude with each other to exclude competitors from fair competition. Chapter 3 Supervision and Inspection
Article 16 Supervision and inspection departments at or above the county level may conduct supervision and inspection of unfair competition practices.
Article 17 When supervising and inspecting acts of unfair competition, the supervision and inspection departments have the right to exercise the following powers: (1) Inquiry of the operators, interested parties, and witnesses under inspection in accordance with prescribed procedures, and require the provision of certification materials or other information related to acts of unfair competition; (2) Inquiry and copying of agreements, account books, documents, documents, records, business correspondence, and other materials related to acts of unfair competition; (3) Inspect property related to unfair competition acts stipulated in Article 5 of this Law, and if necessary, order the operator under inspection to explain the source and quantity of the goods, suspend sales pending inspection, and shall not transfer, conceal, or destroy the property.
Article 18 When staff of the supervision and inspection department supervise and inspect acts of unfair competition, they shall produce their inspection certificates.
Article 19 When the supervision and inspection department supervises and inspects unfair competition, the operators, interested parties and certifiers under inspection shall truthfully provide relevant information or information.
Chapter 4 Legal Liability
Article 20 If an operator violates the provisions of this Law and causes damage to the infringed operator, he shall be liable for damages. If the infringed operator's loss is difficult to calculate, the amount of compensation shall be the profits obtained by the infringer due to the infringement during the infringement period; and shall bear the reasonable expenses paid by the infringed operator for investigating the operator's unfair competition behavior that infringes upon its legitimate rights and interests. If the legitimate rights and interests of an infringed operator are harmed by unfair competition, a lawsuit may be filed in the People's Court.
Article 21 If an operator counterfeits someone else's registered trademark, uses someone else's business name or name without authorization, forges or impersonates quality marks such as certification marks or premium marks, falsifies the place of origin, or makes misleading and false representations of product quality, he shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China and the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China. If an operator uses the unique name, packaging, or decoration of a well-known commodity without authorization, or uses a name, packaging, or decoration that is similar to that of a well-known commodity, causing confusion with other people's well-known commodities and causing buyers to mistake them for the well-known commodities, the supervision and inspection departments shall order them to stop the illegal activities, confiscate the illegal gains, and may impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than three times the illegal gains depending on the circumstances; if the circumstances are serious, the business license may be revoked; if the sale of counterfeit and shoddy commodities constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 22 If an operator uses property or other means to bribe to sell or purchase goods, which constitutes a crime, he shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law; if it does not constitute a crime, the supervision and inspection department may impose a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan according to the circumstances, and any illegal gains shall be confiscated.
Article 23 If a public utility enterprise or other operator with an exclusive position according to the law restricts others from purchasing the goods of its designated operator in order to exclude other operators from fair competition, the supervision and inspection department at the provincial level or a city divided into districts shall order it to stop the illegal behavior and may impose a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan depending on the circumstances. If the designated operator uses this to sell low-quality and high-priced goods or charge excessive fees, the supervision and inspection department shall confiscate the illegal income and may impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than three times the illegal income depending on the circumstances.
Article 24 If an operator uses advertisements or other methods to make misleading and false propaganda about its products, the supervision and inspection department shall order it to stop the illegal behavior and eliminate the impact, and may impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 200,000 depending on the circumstances. If an advertising operator, knowingly or should have known, acts as an agent, designs, produces, or publishes false advertisements, the supervision and inspection departments shall order them to stop their illegal activities, confiscate their illegal gains, and impose fines in accordance with the law.
Article 25 Whoever violates the provisions of Article 10 of this Law and infringes on commercial secrets shall be ordered by the supervision and inspection department to stop the illegal act and may impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 200,000 depending on the circumstances.
Article 26 If an operator violates the provisions of Article 13 of this Law by conducting sales with prizes, the supervision and inspection department shall order him to stop the illegal act and may impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 100,000 depending on the circumstances.
Article 27 If bidders collude in bidding to raise or lower bid prices; if bidders and tenderers collude with each other to exclude competitors from fair competition, the winning bid will be invalid. The supervision and inspection department may impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 200,000 depending on the circumstances.
Article 28 If an operator violates the order to suspend sales and not to transfer, conceal, or destroy property related to unfair competition, the supervision and inspection department may impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than three times the price of the sold, transferred, concealed, or destroyed property based on the circumstances.
Article 29 If a party is dissatisfied with the penalty decision made by the supervision and inspection department, he may apply for reconsideration to the higher-level competent authority within 15 days from the date of receipt of the penalty decision; if he is dissatisfied with the review decision, he may file a lawsuit with the People's Court within 15 days from the date of receipt of the reconsideration decision letter; he may also file a lawsuit directly with the People's Court.
Article 30 If the government and its subordinate departments violate the provisions of Article 7 of this Law by restricting others from purchasing the commodities of its designated operators, restricting the legitimate business activities of other operators, or restricting the normal circulation of commodities between regions, the superior authorities shall order them to make corrections; if the circumstances are serious, the authorities at the same level or the superior authorities shall impose administrative sanctions on the persons directly responsible. If the designated operator uses this to sell low-quality and high-priced goods or charge excessive fees, the supervision and inspection department shall confiscate the illegal income and may impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than three times the illegal income depending on the circumstances.
Article 31 If state agency staff who supervise and inspect acts of unfair competition abuse their power or neglect their duties, which constitutes a crime, they shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law; if it does not constitute a crime, they shall be given administrative sanctions.
Article 32 If a staff member of a state agency that supervises and inspects unfair competition practices engages in malpractice for personal gain and deliberately shields an operator who knowingly violates the provisions of this Law from committing a crime and prevents him from being prosecuted, he shall be held criminally responsible in accordance with the law.
Chapter 5 Supplementary Provisions
Article 33 This Law shall come into effect on December 1, 1993.
Several Provisions on Prohibiting Infringement of Trade Secrets
State Administration for Industry and Commerce Order No. 41 promulgated on November 23, 1995 Revised by Order No. 86 of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on December 3, 1998
Article 1 In order to prevent infringement of trade secrets, protect the legitimate rights and interests of trade secret obligees, and maintain the socialist market economic order, these regulations are formulated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law").
Article 2 The term "trade secrets" as mentioned in these regulations refers to technical information and business information that is not known to the public, can bring economic benefits to the right holder, is practical, and has been kept secret by the right holder. The term “not known to the public” in these regulations means that the information cannot be obtained directly from public channels.
The term "can bring economic benefits to the right holder and has practicality" as mentioned in these regulations means that the information has certain applicability and can bring actual or potential economic benefits or competitive advantages to the right holder.
Several Provisions on Prohibiting Infringement of Trade Secrets
The rights holders referred to in these regulations take confidentiality measures, including entering into confidentiality agreements, establishing confidentiality systems and taking other reasonable confidentiality measures.
The technical information and operating information referred to in these regulations include information such as design, procedures, product formulas, production processes, production methods, management know-how, customer lists, supply information, production and marketing strategies, base bids in tenders and bid documents, etc. The term "right holder" as mentioned in these regulations refers to citizens, legal persons or other organizations that enjoy ownership or use rights of trade secrets in accordance with the law.
Article 3 The following infringement of trade secrets is prohibited:
(1) Obtain the right holder’s business secrets through theft, inducement, coercion or other unfair means;
(2) Disclose, use or allow others to use the right holder’s business secrets obtained by means of the preceding paragraph;
(3) Units and individuals that have business relationships with the right holder violate the contract or the right holder’s requirement to keep business secrets, disclose, use or allow others to use the right holder’s business secrets in their possession;
(4) An employee of the right holder violates the contract or the right holder’s requirement to keep business secrets by disclosing, using or allowing others to use the right holder’s business secrets. If a third party knowingly or should have known about the illegal acts listed in the preceding paragraph acquires, uses or discloses the business secrets of others, it shall be deemed as infringement of business secrets.
Article 4 Infringement of trade secrets shall be determined and dealt with by the industrial and commercial administration authorities at or above the county level.
Article 5 When the right holder (applicant) believes that his or her trade secrets have been infringed upon and applies to the industrial and commercial administration to investigate and deal with the infringement, he or she must provide relevant evidence of the existence of the trade secret and the infringement. The units and individuals under inspection (respondents), as well as interested parties and witnesses, shall truthfully provide relevant evidence to the industrial and commercial administration authorities. If the right holder can prove that the information used by the respondent is consistent or identical with its own trade secrets, and can also prove that the respondent has the conditions to obtain its trade secrets, but the respondent cannot provide or refuses to provide evidence that the information used by it is obtained or used legally, the industrial and commercial administrative agency may determine that the respondent has committed an infringement based on relevant evidence.
Article 6 If the respondent's illegal disclosure, use, or permission for others to use the trade secret will cause irreparable losses to the right holder, upon the request of the right holder and the right holder shall issue a written guarantee to voluntarily assume responsibility for the consequences of the compulsory measures, the industrial and commercial administrative authorities may order the respondent to stop selling products produced using the right holder's trade secret.
Article 7 Anyone who violates Article 3 of these Provisions shall be ordered by the industrial and commercial administration authorities to stop the illegal behavior in accordance with Article 25 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and may impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 200,000 depending on the circumstances.
When imposing penalties in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the industrial and commercial administrative organs may deal with infringing articles as follows:
(1) Order and supervise the infringer to return drawings, software and other relevant materials containing trade secrets to the right holder.
(2) Supervise the infringer to destroy products produced using the right holder’s trade secrets and entering the market that will cause the trade secrets to be disclosed. However, this is excepted if the rights holder agrees to acquisition, sale and other processing methods. Article 8 If the infringer refuses to implement the penalty decision and continues to perform the acts listed in Article 3 of these regulations, it will be regarded as a new illegal act and shall be severely punished.
Article 9 If the right holder makes a request for mediation to the industrial and commercial administrative authorities due to the issue of damage compensation, the industrial and commercial administrative authorities may conduct mediation. The right holder can also directly file a lawsuit with the People's Court and request compensation for damages.
Article 10 When performing official duties, state agencies and their public servants shall not disclose or allow others to use the right holder's business secrets. When supervising and inspecting unfair competition behaviors that infringe on business secrets, the case handling personnel of the industrial and commercial administrative organs shall keep the business secrets of the right holders confidential.
Article 11 The State Administration for Industry and Commerce is responsible for the interpretation of these regulations.
Article 12 These regulations shall come into effect from the date of promulgation.
