A priority rights holder whose rights have been infringed under Chinese financial and intellectual property law is, in principle, entitled to damages to place them in the same position they were in prior to the infringement. This can be achieved in two ways.

One route is through property rights, restoring the priority right holder’s interest by voiding or revoking the interest of a subsequent holder. Another route is through damages, which requires paying compensation as restitution for harm suffered by the priority right holder. Judges in China typically use the property rights method and only award damages in exceptional cases.