On April 23, 2026, the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court officially released the "2025 Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Judicial Protection by Hangzhou Courts" during a press conference for the 2026 Hangzhou Court Intellectual Property Judicial Protection Publicity Week. These cases collectively reflect the court's judicial orientation and value pursuit in protecting innovation, guiding standards, and purifying the industry ecosystem.
The released typical cases span civil, administrative, and criminal law, covering frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, bio-manufacturing, and data elements. Among them, a trade secret case involving game design configuration tables handled by Llinks Law Offices [First Instance: (2022) Zhe 01 Min Chu No. 2081; Second Instance: (2024) Zhe Min Zhong No. 1043] was selected as Case No. 4. This case provided a detailed demonstration that data combinations within game design configuration tables that carry core gameplay can be protected as trade secrets under the law. It also clarified the burden of proof, key determination factors for infringement, and judicial standards for trade secret recognition.
Upon being mandated, Llinks lawyers systematically reviewed the case facts, excavated and organized key evidence, and conducted rigorous and detailed legal analysis regarding the core disputes. Through both first and second instance proceedings, the team ultimately secured a victory for the client and achieved a high compensation of RMB 3.4 million, effectively safeguarding the client's legitimate rights and interests. Notably, this is the first case to recognize game design configuration tables as trade secrets. It provides a new judicial protection path for regulating "re-skinned games," effectively curbing the chaos of "skin-swapping plagiarism" in the gaming industry. This case provides a strong judicial guarantee for strengthening IP protection in online games and helps foster a legal environment that respects originality, encourages innovation, and promotes fair competition.
Llinks Engagement Team
James Wang, Partner
Denny Jiang, Partner
Lita Li, Associate
