Direct answer

Lead with loss or the infringer’s profits; punitive and statutory damages are extras, not the default.

Chinese IP and AUCL practice generally prefers actual loss to the right holder, then the infringer’s gains from the misappropriation, then a licence-fee analogy, then discretionary statutory damages when the first numbers cannot be proved. Intentional and serious infringement can support punitive multiples under current IP/AUCL amendments — still fact-heavy. Reasonable investigation and lawyer costs can be claimed. Contract 违约金 against a signer is a parallel, adjustable path. Criminal fines do not automatically set the civil number. Injunctions and evidence pages sit beside quantum.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

01

Can you evidence your loss?

Lost sales, price erosion, cost to rebuild the secret.

Loss
02

Can you evidence their gain?

Their sales of the copied line, margins, duration.

Gains
03

Is there a comparable licence?

Only if you actually license this kind of know-how.

Royalty
04

Is bad-faith intentional and serious?

Punitive bands need more than a routine employee move.

Punitive

Working rule: Map the regulated role before marketing or launch in China.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal
Ask the operating question
Why it changes the route
No numbers
Is the claim only ‘irreparable harm’?
Courts then guess low or refuse large awards.
Whole-company profits
Are you claiming all of the competitor’s turnover?
Causal link to the secret is required.
Contract 违约金 only
Is the defendant a signer with an agreed sum?
Run contract and AUCL in the alternative; adjustment still applies.
Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01Loss workingsSales drop, customers moved, rebuild cost.
02Infringer accountsWhat you can lawfully get on their copied SKU.
03Licence comparablesIf any genuine licences exist.
04Enforcement costsNotarial, forensic and reasonable legal fees.
Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Is there a fixed statutory amount for every secret case?

No single tariff. Statutory and punitive tools apply when proof of loss/gains is hard or when bad faith is serious. Verify current AUCL/IP ceilings before you plead a number.

Do we need an accounting expert?

For any serious quantum, yes. A

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

National laws database (NPC)
Anti-Unfair Competition Law (gov.cn)
Supreme People’s Court
SAMR