On March 20, the Supreme People’s Court selected 15 cases from those concluded by courts nationwide in 2024 as the fifth batch of Top IP Judicial Protection Case in the Seed Industry Selected by the Supreme People's Court (Batch 5, released in 2025). The case “‘Scilate’ Apple New Plant Variety Temporary Protection Period Usage Fee and Infringement Dispute” represented by Lusheng Law Firm was honorably selected.
Case Selected for the Fifth Batch of Typical Cases on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in the Seed Industry by the Supreme People’s Court Involving Lusheng
“Scilate” Apple New Plant Variety Temporary Protection Period Usage Fee and Infringement Dispute
[Dispute over Usage Fee During the Temporary Protection Period and Infringement of New Plant Variety Rights between a Certain British International Company and a Certain Agricultural Company]
Case Information
-
In the second-instance case involving ENZAFruit’s new apple plant variety Scilate / brand name Envy, the Supreme People’s Court, on the basis of the revised Seed Law of the People’s Republic of China (the “Seed Law”), upheld the landmark first-instance judgment. ENZAFruit is a subsidiary of T&G Global, headquartered in New Zealand, and is a company engaged in the operation of exotic fruits and vegetables.
-
In this case, Lusheng Law Firm successfully assisted ENZAFruit in obtaining compensation of RMB 3.3 million, which is a rare amount awarded in civil cases concerning infringement of new plant varieties in China.
Recently, drawing on its many years of legal practice experience in new plant varieties, Lusheng assisted ENZAFruit in achieving a landmark victory in the final judgment rendered by the Supreme People’s Court: the first-instance judgment was upheld, and a relatively high amount of compensation in civil cases concerning infringement of new plant varieties in China was awarded — as high as RMB 3.3 million.
The Compensation Amount Is Truly Rare
At first instance, the Lanzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Gansu Province, in light of the defendants’ bad faith and serious infringing acts, decided to calculate punitive damages at twice the amount of the illegal gains derived from the infringing acts. At second instance, this amount of compensation was upheld by the Supreme People’s Court.
The final amount of compensation in this case is truly rare among civil cases involving infringement of new asexually reproduced plant varieties in China. According to the results disclosed in the 2023 law enforcement inspection of the Seed Law by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the average amount of compensation in such cases is about RMB 425,000, far lower than the amount awarded in this case.
In Addition to Ordering Cessation of Infringement, the Supreme People’s Court Ordered the Infringers to Cut Off Propagating Materials and Render Them Non-viable
During the evidence collection process, Lusheng conducted extensive on-site evidence collection in multiple orchards in China, covering both the seedling planting season and the fruit harvesting season. Ultimately, Lusheng collected and completed DNA analysis and testing of the necessary propagating materials, thereby proving the infringing acts and submitting the results to the court.
The final judgment in this case upheld the previous decision rendered by the first-instance court in November 2023 on protecting ENZAFruit’s new plant variety right in the Scilate apple plant variety. The Supreme People’s Court held that the defendants’ illegal planting and sale of plant materials of the Scilate variety and apples harvested from such illegal materials seriously infringed ENZAFruit’s intellectual property rights. Therefore, the Supreme People’s Court ordered the infringers to immediately cease all infringing acts, cut off the propagating materials, and render them non-viable so as to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the right holder.
This judgment of the Supreme People’s Court is of far-reaching significance and has bolstered the confidence of domestic and foreign holders of new plant variety rights. At the same time, in accordance with the newly revised Seed Law, the scope of protection in this case has been extended from propagating materials to the fruits harvested from the planting of such propagating materials.
In addition, with the defendants’ appeal having been dismissed, ENZAFruit may now file a separate lawsuit and seek further damages for the infringing acts that the defendants continued to commit after the first-instance judgment in 2023.
Evaluation of the Typical Significance by the Supreme People’s Court
“In this case, the variety right holder is an enterprise from New Zealand, and the adjudication result demonstrates the people’s courts’ adherence to equal protection in accordance with the law. This case treats the act of selling harvested materials as a natural extension of the acts of producing and propagating propagating materials, and, where the infringer mainly obtains illegal gains through the sale of harvested materials, takes the sales profits of such harvested materials as the basis for determining the amount of compensation. This provides an important reference for the calculation of damages in subsequent similar cases and further strengthens the comprehensive protection of variety right holders. The method of cessation of infringement supported in this case, namely cutting off infringing propagating material scions and then grafting other non-infringing variety scions, fully takes into account the characteristics of perennial asexually reproduced crops. It not only fully protects the interests of variety right holders, but also reasonably accommodates the restoration of agricultural production and the avoidance of resource waste, and constitutes a useful exploration in refining the forms of cessation of infringement for variety rights.”
(The above evaluation is reproduced from the Supreme People’s Court.)
Case-handling Experience of the Lusheng Team
Su Yanhong, person in charge of this case:
“The success of this case highlights the importance of intellectual property protection in China’s agriculture and food industry, both for local and foreign brand owners, especially against the backdrop of market demand for high-quality agricultural products. The judgment in this case fully takes into account the enormous investment of time, capital, and human resources required in plant breeding, and fully reflects the feasibility of enforcing intellectual property rights in asexually reproduced materials such as fruits and horticultural plants. We firmly believe that, with the comprehensive protection provided by the newly implemented Seed Law, this judgment will strongly encourage local and foreign holders of new plant variety rights to actively protect their assets and enhance their confidence in investing in China.”
Xu Liping, senior litigation lawyer:
“This case is a rare one in the field of new plant varieties in which a high amount of compensation was awarded and punitive damages were applied. The Supreme People’s Court elaborated in detail on the impact of harvested materials on holders of new plant variety rights and concluded that calculating damages based on infringing harvested materials can better protect the competitive interests of right holders. At the same time, rendering illegal propagating materials non-viable and destroying them is the most effective means of protecting the interests of holders of new plant variety rights.”
Client Testimonial
Morgan Rogers:
“This landmark judgment demonstrates China’s firm determination to protect plant variety rights, which makes T&G even more confident in our investments in China. Against the backdrop of continuously strengthened intellectual property protection, we will further expand the licensing of excellent varieties such as Envy apples. This will not only benefit Chinese consumers and partners, but will also bring new growth opportunities for our business. This judgment will help promote the business development plans of T&G and ENZAFruit and lay a solid foundation for further contributing to the vigorous development of China’s horticultural industry.”
