National Courts Annual Report on Legal Application Issues in Intellectual Property Cases Released — Case Represented by Rayto Attorney Li Weichao Selected

On April 21, the Supreme People's Court officially released the "Summary of the National Courts Annual Report on Legal Application Issues in Intellectual Property Cases (2025)." This annual report identifies 45 legal application issues from intellectual property cases concluded by courts nationwide in 2025.

Among them, a copyright dispute case involving open-source software, represented by Li Weichao, a senior partner at Rayto Law Firm, was successfully selected for inclusion in the Summary of the National Courts Annual Report on Legal Application Issues in Intellectual Property Cases (2025)!

25. Impact of Open Source Licenses on Infringement Determination and Damage Awards

Case Number:
(2024) Su Min Zhong No. 581

Key Adjudication Ruling:
In a case of computer software copyright infringement, the fact that the copyrighted software is subject to an open source license does not automatically mean that the software has been licensed under that open source license. Where an alleged infringer defends against a claim of copyright infringement solely on the ground that the owner of the software in question failed to open source its code in compliance with the open source license, a people's court generally will not support such a defense. However, the failure of the software owner to comply with the open source license may be considered a factor when determining the amount of damages.

This selection for inclusion in the Summary of the National Courts Annual Report on Legal Application Issues in Intellectual Property Cases (2025) fully affirms the professional competence of Attorney Li Weichao and Rayto Law Firm, and also reflects Rayto's deep expertise in complex technology-focused intellectual property cases, including those involving open source software, computer software copyrights, and trade secrets.