In practice, a consumer who enters a brand name into a search engine may find that the resulting link leads not to the brand owner’s website, but to that of competitors. This advertising tactic is highly disruptive in effect and has gradually become a recurring issue that must be confronted in brand protection disputes involving well-known enterprises. Compared with traditional trademark infringement, which typically manifests itself through the direct imitation or unauthorized use of a mark on goods, this new form of conduct operates through the manipulation of search engine keyword mechanisms. By setting another party’s well-known trademark as a keyword to attract online traffic, certain operators appropriate commercial opportunities that should accrue to the right holder. At the same time, such practices weaken the distinctiveness of the trademark and distort consumers’ understanding of market relationships.

On 15 October 2025, the revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China (2025 Revision) (the “New Anti-Unfair Competition Law”) formally came into effect. This revision marks the most significant overhaul since the 2019 amendment. Designed for the digital-economy era, the New Anti-Unfair Competition Law introduces substantial refinements to the definition, investigation, and supervision of unfair competition practices, as well as to the corresponding legal liabilities. This article outlines the principal amendments and provides an interpretation from the perspective of corporate compliance management and rights protection.

II. Efficient and Accessible Interim Measures — On Par with Domestic Arbitration Under the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, parties to an arbitration may, before or during the arbitral proceedings, apply to the people’s court at the place where the other party is domiciled, where the property to be preserved is located, or where the evidence concerned is kept, for interim property and evidence preservation measures.