Trade Secret Injunctions in China

Injunctions are available; they are not automatic, and delay plus a vague secret will sink them.

Civil Procedure Law act preservation and IP-specific practice allow courts to order a respondent to stop using, disclosing or dealing in a trade secret before judgment. You typically need a particularised secret, measures evidence, a link to the defendant, urgency (use is happening or imminent), and a security deposit. Final injunctions after judgment are more common than emergency PIs. Administrative SAMR orders and platform takedowns are parallel, not substitutes, when you need a court order against a competitor’s factory. Bond risk is real if the PI is later found wrongful.

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.

Is use happening now?

A product on the line or a listing live this week is urgency; a two-year-old slight is not.

Urgency

Can you particularise the secret and the act to be stopped?

Courts will not enjoin ‘unfair competition’ in the air.

Scope

Can you post security?

Budget the bond before you file the PI.

Bond

Is a PI the right tool vs a fast merits hearing?

Some courts prefer a short merits path.

Forum

Working rule: Civil Procedure Law act preservation and IP-specific practice allow courts to order a respondent to stop using, disclosing or dealing in a trade secret before judgment.

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

Slow reaction

Did you wait months after knowing of the copy?

Urgency dies.

Vague order sought

Are you asking to ban the defendant from an entire industry?

Overbroad PIs fail; a paid non-compete is the industry-ban tool.

No bond

Is there no plan to provide security?

Act preservation almost always needs it.

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.

01Urgent harmLive listings, production, customer diversion, dates you learned.

02Secret and measuresThe same AUCL three limbs, particularised.

03Respondent actsWhat they must be ordered to stop, in operational terms.

04Bond capacityWho will provide security and how fast.

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 a PI easier than a US TRO?

Do not assume US-style speed. Chinese PIs are possible but document-heavy and bond-heavy. Some claimants go straight to a fast trial plus preservation of evidence.

Can SAMR replace a court injunction?

SAMR can penalise and order stopping some unfair-competition acts. It is not the same as a civil PI against a named competitor’s use. Often you run both.

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