A novel imide modified vinyl-containing fluorosilicone resin (MP-VFS) was firstly prepared from maleopimaric acid (MPA), and characterized by H-1 NMR and C-13 NMR. Containing MPA based imide heterocycle (MPABI), MP-VFS was further used as a novel cross-linker to prepare MPA modified fluorosilicone rubber (MP-FSR). Morphology, mechanical and oil-resistance properties, thermal properties, and low temperature resistance of MP-FSR had been studied. Microphase separation was observed in MP-FSR. Although the tensile strength of fluorosilicone rubber was not significantly enhanced, the tearing strength, breaking elongation, rebound resilience and hardness were effectively improved. When the MP-VFS content was 2.0 wt %, the tearing strength of MP-FSR was increased by 23.5%, breaking elongation by 18.6% and rebound resilience by 9.7%. The thermal stability was enhanced due to the incorporation of MPABI. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 1769-1776