China issues IP framework aligning with phase-one commitments

China’s supreme court on Tuesday issued guidelines to strengthen its intellectual property regime that embody many of the commitments Beijing made in its phase-one trade agreement with the U.S. The “Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on comprehensively strengthening judicial protection of intellectual property rights” outline plans to strengthen IP enforcement, enhance trade-secret protections, increase penalties for IP rights violators and confiscate or destroy counterfeit goods. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other U.S. officials have touted the IP provisions...