Due to the relative complexity of patent infringement compared with trademark and copyright infringement, most countries in the world resolve patent disputes through their judicial systems. But in China, in parallel with judicial protection, administrative enforcement authorities also play an important role in resolving patent disputes.

China has three types of patents: design patents, invention patents, and utility models. Administrative enforcement authorities in China can handle cases relating to all three types of patents across all industries. In practice, there are more administrative design patent disputes than utility model or invention patent disputes because design patents are technically simpler and, therefore, more suitable for a quick and fast resolution through the administrative enforcement system. There are, however, still a substantial number of utility model and invention patent cases.