Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (2019 Amendment)

Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (2019 Amendment) Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (Adopted at the 3rd Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on September 2, 1993, revised at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on November 4, 2017, and amended in accordance with the the Decision to Amend Eight Laws Including the Construction Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on April 23, 2019) Contents Chapter I General Provisions Chapter II Acts of Unfair Competition Chapter III Investigation of Suspected Acts of Unfair Competition Chapter IV Legal Liability Chapter V Supplemental Provision Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of promoting the sound development of the socialist market economy, encouraging and protecting fair competition, preventing acts of unfair competition, and safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of businesses and consumers. Article 2 Businesses shall, in their production and distribution activities, adhere to the free will, equality, fairness, and good faith principles, and abide by laws and business ethics. For the purposes of this Law, "act of unfair competition" means that in its production or distribution activities, a business disrupts the order of market competition and causes damage to the lawful rights and interests of the other businesses or consumers, in violation of this Law. For the purposes of this Law, "business" means a natural person, a legal person, or a non-legal person organization that engages in the production or distribution of commodities or the provision of services (commodities and services are hereinafter collectively referred to as “commodities”). Article 3 The people's governments at all levels shall take measures to prevent acts of unfair competition and create an environment and conditions favorable for fair competition. The State Council shall establish a coordination mechanism of anti-unfair competition work to research and decide major anti-unfair competition policies and coordinate the handling of major issues on maintaining the order of market competition. Article 4 The departments performing the functions of industry and commerce administration of the people's governments at and above the county level shall investigate and dispose of acts of unfair competition, unless a law or administrative regulation requires any other department to do so. Article 5 The state encourages, supports, and protects public scrutiny, from all organizations and individuals, of acts of unfair competition. State organs and their employees shall not support or harbor acts of unfair competition. Industry organizations shall strengthen industry self-regulation, provide guidance and rules for their members to compete according to the law, and maintain the order of market competition. Chapter II Acts of Unfair Competition Article 6 A business shall not commit the following acts of confusion to mislead a person into believing that a commodity is one of another person or has a particular connection with another person: (1) Using without permission a label identical or similar to the name, packaging or decoration, among others, of another person's commodity with certain influence. (2) Using without permission another person's name with certain influence, such as the name (including abbreviations and trade names) of an enterprise, the name (including abbreviations) of a social organization, or the name (including pseudonyms, stage names and name translations) of an individual. (3) Using without permission the principal part of a domain name, the name of a website, or a web page with certain influence, among others, of another person. (4) Other acts of confusion sufficient to mislead a person into believing that a commodity is one of another person or has a particular connection with another person. Article 7 A business shall not seek transaction opportunities or competitive edges by bribing the following entities or individuals with property or by any other means: (1) An employee of the other party to a transaction. (2) The entity or individual authorized by the other party to a transaction to handle relevant affairs. (3) An entity or an individual that uses power or influence to affect a transaction. A business may, in a transaction, explicitly pay a discount to the other party to the transaction, or pay a commission to an intermediary. In either case, the business shall faithfully make an entry in its account book. The business receiving the discount or commission shall also faithfully enter it into its account book. A bribery committed by an employee of a business is deemed to have been committed by the business, unless the business has evidence that the act of the employee is irrelevant to seeking a transaction opportunity or competitive edge for the business. Article 8 A business shall not conduct any false or misleading commercial publicity in respect of the performance, functions, quality, sales, user reviews, and honors received of its commodities, in order to defraud or mislead consumers. A business shall not help another business conduct any false or misleading commercial publicity by organizing false transactions or any other means. Article 9 A business shall not commit the following acts of infringing upon trade secrets: (1) Acquiring a trade secret from the right holder by theft, bribery, fraud, coercion, electronic intrusion, or any other illicit means. (2) Disclosing, using, or allowing another person to use a trade secret acquired from the right holder by any means as specified in the preceding subparagraph. (3) Disclosing, using, or allow......