Recently, the list of the “Top 10 Typical Intellectual Property Cases by IP Economy 2025” was officially released. The case concerning infringement of the plant new variety right in respect of the Envy (Envy) apple, handled by Lusheng Law Firm on behalf of ENZAFruit, was honorably selected.
Brief Introduction of the Case
Lusheng Law Firm 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 damages in civil cases concerning infringement of new plant variety rights in China was awarded—up to RMB 3.3 million.
During the evidence collection process, Lusheng conducted extensive on-site evidence preservation in multiple orchards across 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 fact of infringement and submitting the results to the court. In the first instance, the Lanzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Gansu Province, based on the defendants’ bad faith and serious infringing acts, decided to calculate punitive damages at twice the amount of the illegal income generated from the infringing acts.
In the final judgment of this case, the Supreme People’s Court upheld the prior decision rendered by the court of first instance and held that the defendants’ illegal planting and sale of plant materials of the Scilate variety, as well as apples harvested from such illegal materials, constituted a serious infringement of 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 carry out deactivation treatment, so as to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the right holder.
Typical Significance
1. The final damages of RMB 3.3 million awarded in this case are indeed rare in civil cases concerning infringement of new plant varieties of asexually reproduced plants 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 damages in such cases is approximately RMB 425,000, which is far lower than the amount awarded in this case.
2. The holder of the variety right in this case is a New Zealand enterprise, and the adjudication result demonstrates the People’s Courts’ adherence to the principle of 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 reproducing propagating materials, and, where the infringer primarily obtains illegal benefits through the sale of harvested materials, takes the sales profits of such harvested materials as the basis for determining the amount of damages. This provides an important reference for the calculation of damages in similar subsequent cases and is of landmark significance, further strengthening the comprehensive protection of variety right holders. The injunctive relief supported in this case—namely, requiring the infringer to cut off the infringing propagating scions and then graft other non-infringing variety scions—fully takes into account the characteristics of perennial asexually reproduced crops. It not only fully protects the interests of the variety right holder, but also reasonably balances the restoration of agricultural production and the avoidance of resource waste, thereby making a beneficial innovation and exploration in refining the forms of cessation of infringement in respect of variety rights.
