The E-commerce Law of the People's Republic of China: E-commerce platform operators liability for third-party patent infringement

The E-Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China(E-commerce Law) was enacted on August 31, 2018. One of the hottest topics is e-commerce platform operators (EPOs) liability for third-party patent infringement. The EPOs, which provide platform services rather than participating in trade directly, must try to maintain the balance between patentees and social interests. Due to the particularities of the patent infringement review, it is difficult for the EPOs to fulfil the task. Thus, the EPOs liability for copyright and trademark infringement is likely unworkable in the patent area. A China practice review will be helpful in analysing the problem; the guiding case No. 83 is an especially meaningful reference. The E-Commerce Law is principled and advisory - it is impossible to distinguish the limits of EPOs liability for third-party patent infringement by differentiating the patent from other intellectual property rights. After reviewing the regulations on the general and intellectual property duty of care of EPOs, this article argues that the E-Commerce Law still has some specific problems. Consequently, to implement the E-Commerce Law, judicial interpretation and detailed rules for implementation should be formulated as soon as possible, and the potential solutions are described in the conclusion.