ABSTRACT
This paper integrates empirical and doctrinal approaches to demystify the intellectual property law Typical Case system in China. IP Typical Cases have proliferated nationwide, yet their institutional meaning – particularly what makes them ‘typical’ and what functions they are intended to serve – remains obscure. Normative documents suggest a dual purpose: doctrinally, to unify the application of law across similar cases; and socially, to promote law popularisation and support broader social governance. This dual intention aligns with the findings from a semantic network analysis based on a large-N Weibo dataset, which reveals that IP Typical Cases embody economic, political, and legal dimensions. However, policymakers have overlooked the inherent tension between these functions: the legal function requires the doctrinal complexity of hard cases, whereas the societal function depends on simple, communicable cases suitable for public education. Given the predominance of non-hard cases and the pre-existing ambiguity surrounding the system’s intended purpose, the current IP Typical Case system struggles to realise either objective effectively. A clear recognition of the hard–simple division could enable the system to function more coherently, contributing both to the development of China’s case guidance system and, more narrowly, to the formation of IP legal dogmatics.
Guangyu Li, Obscure engine: China’s Typical Case system for intellectual property law – empirical and doctrinal insights, Legal Studies. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 8 September 2026.
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