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Author	Prof Dong Bin
Organisation/Institution	Peking University, School of Transnational Law
Country	CHINA
Panel	International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution
Title	CHINA’S ANTI-SUIT INJUNCTIONS AND THE TRIPS “ANTI-FRUSTRATION” RULE: PUBLIC–PRIVATE LAW BOUNDARIES AND GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS
Abstract	In July 2025, an arbitration between the European Union and China overturned the WTO panel report and held that China’s use of anti-suit injunctions (“ASIs”) in standard-essential patent (“SEP”) disputes – primarily involving 3G/4G/5G technologies between European patent holders and Chinese implementers – was inconsistent with TRIPS Article 1.1 in connection with Articles 28.1 and 28.2. The arbitrators found that Chinese courts had developed a systemic practice of issuing ASIs, which prevented foreign SEP holders from pursuing or enforcing their rights abroad. They further adopted an expansive reading of TRIPS Article 1.1, interpreting “give effect to” as containing an extraterritorial “anti-frustration” obligation that bars Members from using domestic measures to undermine the effective exercise of IP rights in other jurisdictions. This article examines the implications of the arbitral award from four perspectives. First, it considers the public–private law boundary, asking whether a domestic procedural device traditionally used in civil litigation should be treated as a WTO-reviewable “measure.” Second, it evaluates the authority and limits of MPIA-based arbitration to define and interpret key TRIPS concepts, particularly reading an extraterritorial “anti-frustration” rule into the agreement. Third, it explores how institutional features of China’s judicial system may produce patterns perceived externally as systemic ASI practice. Fourth, it examines the implications for other jurisdictions – including Korea, Japan, India, and the United States – whose governments reserved third-party rights in the arbitration, signalling broader concern that the award could constrain their ability to manage FRAND and SEP disputes within their own legal systems.
Biography	My name is Dong (Teb) Bin, and I am currently a Lecturer at Peking University School of Transnational Law ("STL"). My research focuses on international trade law and IP. I received my B.A. from Peking University and, after graduation, worked as a transactional lawyer in China, handling corporate law and general compliance matters. I completed my J.D. at Washington University School of Law in the United States in May 2025, where I focused on international law, served as an editor on the Journal of Law and Policy, and was selected as the teaching assistant for International Business Transactions. I joined STL after graduation.