On 4 August 2025, the Shenzhen Bao’an District People’s Court published an article in its Judicial Insight column, discussing a recent case in which a defendant attempted to attract traffic and monetize unreleased game skins by leaking them ahead of time. The court held that the game companies’ skin designs constituted trade secrets under Chinese law. The defendant was ordered to cease the infringing activity, publicly apologize, and pay a total of RMB 1 million in damages and legal expenses.
Case Summary
The defendant, Mr. Li, is a game content creator who, since 2022, illegally acquired unreleased character skin designs from the online game A and edited them into “leak videos”. He published the content across multiple social media platforms to attract traffic and generate illicit profits.
Game operators Company A and Company B, the joint operators of A, discovered the infringements and filed complaints with the relevant platforms. As a result, Li’s videos were taken down and his accounts were temporarily suspended. However, Li continued publishing unauthorized content even after being penalized.
Eventually, the companies filed a lawsuit, seeking a court order to immediately halt the infringing acts, demand a public apology, and recover damages.
Court Findings
This case was categorized as an unfair competition dispute. The court addressed two main issues:
1. Whether the game skin designs qualified as trade secrets
According to Article 9 of the PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law [ https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail2.html?ZmY4MDgwODE2ZjEzNWY0NjAxNmYyMTY5ZGU5YjFhY2U%3D ], a trade secret refers to technical or business information that is not known to the public, has commercial value, and is subject to reasonable confidentiality measures by the rights holder.
The court found that the 147 skin designs from 31 series met all three criteria.
First, regarding commercial value, although the A game is free to download and play, its primary source of revenue is the sale of in-game skins. The skin designs are a key part of the game’s appeal and directly influence player purchases. Evidence such as download figures, ratings, media reports, and user feedback demonstrated the skins’ significant contribution to the game’s commercial success.
Second, the companies had implemented robust internal controls. These included company-wide policies like Trade Secret Protection and Management Regulations, confidentiality agreements with employees and suppliers, technical safeguards to prevent leaks, and provisions in the user agreement prohibiting reverse engineering or attempts to discover confidential elements of the game software. The court held that these measures satisfied the legal requirement for confidentiality.
Third, in terms of secrecy, the skin designs had not been released to the public at the time of infringement. Official announcements appeared only 1–2 days before the skins went live and included only 2D posters, not actual in-game renders. Evidence showed that the defendant published video content before the skins were officially announced, with no proof that the materials came from legitimate sources. Therefore, the court concluded that the skins were not publicly known and constituted confidential business information.
2. Whether Mr. Li committed trade secret infringement
Li was not an employee or vendor of the plaintiff companies and had no lawful access to the unreleased skins. He uploaded dynamic previews of the skins to his multiple accounts without authorization and failed to explain the source of the material.
The court held that Li had obtained trade secrets through improper means and disclosed and used such information in violation of Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
The judgment ordered Mr. Li to immediately stop illegally obtaining and disclosing the unreleased skins, issue a public apology, and pay RMB 1 million in damages and legal fees. The judgment has taken effect.
Comment
This case highlights the growing importance of trade secret protection in the gaming industry, especially amid the rapid development of content creators and social media platforms. The court’s ruling makes it clear that as long as the requirements of secrecy, commercial value, and confidentiality measures are met, creative assets such as game skin designs can also be protected as trade secrets. Further, under the law, once the rights holder provides preliminary evidence that reasonable confidentiality measures were taken and that infringement has occurred, the burden of proof shifts to the alleged infringer, who must then prove the legality of their conduct.
It is recommended that game companies establish a comprehensive confidentiality system by strengthening controls through internal policies, technical safeguards, and partner management. This includes implementing detailed protocols for handling confidential information, restricting access to unreleased content through technical means, and ensuring that employees and external partners sign legally binding non-disclosure agreements. Companies should also continuously monitor social media platforms and promptly take down leaked content and pursue legal remedies when necessary.
Case Summary
The defendant, Mr. Li, is a game content creator who, since 2022, illegally acquired unreleased character skin designs from the online game A and edited them into “leak videos”. He published the content across multiple social media platforms to attract traffic and generate illicit profits.
Game operators Company A and Company B, the joint operators of A, discovered the infringements and filed complaints with the relevant platforms. As a result, Li’s videos were taken down and his accounts were temporarily suspended. However, Li continued publishing unauthorized content even after being penalized.
Eventually, the companies filed a lawsuit, seeking a court order to immediately halt the infringing acts, demand a public apology, and recover damages.
Court Findings
This case was categorized as an unfair competition dispute. The court addressed two main issues:
1. Whether the game skin designs qualified as trade secrets
According to Article 9 of the PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law [ https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail2.html?ZmY4MDgwODE2ZjEzNWY0NjAxNmYyMTY5ZGU5YjFhY2U%3D ], a trade secret refers to technical or business information that is not known to the public, has commercial value, and is subject to reasonable confidentiality measures by the rights holder.
The court found that the 147 skin designs from 31 series met all three criteria.
First, regarding commercial value, although the A game is free to download and play, its primary source of revenue is the sale of in-game skins. The skin designs are a key part of the game’s appeal and directly influence player purchases. Evidence such as download figures, ratings, media reports, and user feedback demonstrated the skins’ significant contribution to the game’s commercial success.
Second, the companies had implemented robust internal controls. These included company-wide policies like Trade Secret Protection and Management Regulations, confidentiality agreements with employees and suppliers, technical safeguards to prevent leaks, and provisions in the user agreement prohibiting reverse engineering or attempts to discover confidential elements of the game software. The court held that these measures satisfied the legal requirement for confidentiality.
Third, in terms of secrecy, the skin designs had not been released to the public at the time of infringement. Official announcements appeared only 1–2 days before the skins went live and included only 2D posters, not actual in-game renders. Evidence showed that the defendant published video content before the skins were officially announced, with no proof that the materials came from legitimate sources. Therefore, the court concluded that the skins were not publicly known and constituted confidential business information.
2. Whether Mr. Li committed trade secret infringement
Li was not an employee or vendor of the plaintiff companies and had no lawful access to the unreleased skins. He uploaded dynamic previews of the skins to his multiple accounts without authorization and failed to explain the source of the material.
The court held that Li had obtained trade secrets through improper means and disclosed and used such information in violation of Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
The judgment ordered Mr. Li to immediately stop illegally obtaining and disclosing the unreleased skins, issue a public apology, and pay RMB 1 million in damages and legal fees. The judgment has taken effect.
Comment
This case highlights the growing importance of trade secret protection in the gaming industry, especially amid the rapid development of content creators and social media platforms. The court’s ruling makes it clear that as long as the requirements of secrecy, commercial value, and confidentiality measures are met, creative assets such as game skin designs can also be protected as trade secrets. Further, under the law, once the rights holder provides preliminary evidence that reasonable confidentiality measures were taken and that infringement has occurred, the burden of proof shifts to the alleged infringer, who must then prove the legality of their conduct.
It is recommended that game companies establish a comprehensive confidentiality system by strengthening controls through internal policies, technical safeguards, and partner management. This includes implementing detailed protocols for handling confidential information, restricting access to unreleased content through technical means, and ensuring that employees and external partners sign legally binding non-disclosure agreements. Companies should also continuously monitor social media platforms and promptly take down leaked content and pursue legal remedies when necessary.