On August 8, 2025, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court issued a second-instance ruling in the copyright infringement and unfair competition case between NetEase's "The Land of the King" and Lingxi Interactive Entertainment's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition." The court overturned the 2023 first-instance judgment (which found infringement and awarded 50 million yuan in damages), citing "unclear basic facts and incorrect comparison methods" as grounds for remanding the case for retrial.

The core dispute centers on whether game mechanics and rules fall under copyright protection. The second-instance court explicitly stated that the disputed rules (such as character development and seasonal mechanisms) belong to the realm of "ideas" and are not protected by copyright law. The first-instance court's classification of these as "original expressions" constituted an error in legal application.

**Litigation Timeline: From "Victory" to Reversal**

**First Instance: Historic Recognition of Original Rules** In 2023, the Guangzhou Internet Court ruled that "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition" structurally copied 79 game rules from "The Land of the King" (covering spatial systems, resource allocation, etc.). The court deemed these rules as the "core soul of the game" and classified them as "other intellectual achievements meeting work characteristics," ordering Lingxi to pay 50 million yuan in damages and modify infringing content. This was viewed as a breakthrough judgment first incorporating "gameplay mechanisms" into copyright protection.

**Second Instance: Legal Principle Correction and Factual Disputes** After Lingxi Interactive Entertainment's appeal, the 2025 second-instance ruling overturned the first-instance conclusion, identifying two key issues: - Timeline inversion: NetEase used a 2020 updated version of "The Land of the King" for comparison, which was later than the 2019 launch version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition," leading to factual recognition bias. - Idea-expression dichotomy: Game rules essentially belong to "operational method" ideas; protecting them would monopolize gameplay types and hinder innovation.

Additionally, the court required the retrial to focus on unfair competition claims (such as malicious imitation of overall experience), but based on substantial similarity through comprehensive review rather than fragmented comparison.

**Commercial Gaming: Market Competition and Brand Positioning**

**NetEase's "Defense" Strategy** Following the second-instance defeat, NetEase posted prominently on social media: "This isn't over yet, don't rush," accompanied by the slogan "Original never stops, defense never rests," signaling continued litigation.

This move aims to strengthen the "authentic original" brand image, echoing market actions—in 2025, "The Land of the King" downloads increased 100% year-over-year, with the youth server mode (no-payment card drawing) attracting numerous young users, resulting in 28% month-over-month revenue growth.

**Lingxi's Competitive Advantage** "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition" maintains its position in the top 20 bestsellers through continuous innovation (such as the "Chang'an Rebellion" scenario), with global users exceeding 100 million in 2024. Its success stems from differentiated design: built on the official "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" IP foundation, layered with technical patents like real-time sandbox engines, avoiding dependence on single-rule imitation.

**Industry Insights: Rebalancing Rights Protection and Innovation**

**Legal Boundary Clarification** The second-instance ruling reaffirmed copyright law foundations: only protecting specific expressions (art, code, text), not extending to abstract rules. This forces manufacturers to adjust protection strategies: - Separate registration: Individual registration of copyrightable elements like interfaces and storylines - Patent-based technology: Such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition's" sandbox engine patents - Anti-unfair competition backup: Fighting malicious confusion through unfair competition litigation

**Competitive Landscape Restructuring** The Three Kingdoms SLG track has entered "close combat": After "The Land of the King" launched a 100 million yuan subsidy campaign, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition" quickly followed suit; both compete for mini-game platform traffic. Differentiation breakthrough points shift toward young users and cultural cultivation—NetEase breaks middle-aged user circles through youth servers, while Lingxi strengthens Three Kingdoms cultural identity through film and TV IP collaborations.

**Future Direction: Retrial Focus and Settlement Possibilities**

**Core Retrial Issues:** 1. NetEase needs to provide pre-2019 "The Land of the King" versions for effective comparison 2. Whether unfair competition is established: Must prove "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition" deliberately imitated overall experience and caused market confusion

**Potential Industry Impact** If NetEase cannot reverse the situation, it will accelerate industry consensus: gameplay innovation belongs to the "public domain," requiring manufacturers to build barriers through technological iteration and cultural expression. Long-term, this high-profile competition may promote judicial interpretation refinement, providing clearer frameworks for game intellectual property protection.