China Justice Observer

中司观察

EnglishArabicChinese (Simplified)DutchFrenchGermanHindiItalianJapaneseKoreanPortugueseRussianSpanishSwedishHebrewIndonesianVietnameseThaiTurkishMalay

SPC’s Outline of the Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property in the Next Five Years

Tue, 29 May 2018
Categories: Insights
Editor: C. J. Observer

 

In 2017, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued the “Outline of the Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property in China (2016-2020)” (中国知识产权司法保护纲要(2016—2020)), indicating what Chinese courts would do to enhance the protection of intellectual property (hereinafter referred to as IP) rights in the next five years. In order to make the efforts known worldwide, the SPC also provide an English version of the Outline.

Now we summarize the five-year Outline as follows:

1. In October 1995, the SPC established its IP Division. In November and December 2014, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai set up their own IP courts. In early 2017, specialized IP adjudication organs were launched in Nanjing, Suzhou, Chengdu and Wuhan.

2. As of end 2016, 224 intermediate people’s courts were designated by the SPC or mandated by law to have special jurisdiction over civil cases concerning new plant varieties, integrated circuit design, monopoly and determination of well-known trademarks. 167 primay people’s courts were approved by the SPC to exercise jurisdiction over civil IP cases of a general nature.

3. Today, over 5,000 IP judges, law assistants, technical examination officers and law clerks are working in local courts at various levels.

4. The world is embracing a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Using IP as a powerful tool to improve their competitiveness in the global economic and technologic landscape, developed countries are enforcing more rigorous IP protection rules in international trade. IP is increasingly becoming the decisive advantage in global competition. The five-year Outline aims to further improve China’s IP judicial protection system, strengthen the judicial protection capacity, and better accentuate the judiciary’s leading role in protecting IP.

5.Chinese courts shall provide equal protection of the lawful rights for all economic entities of all ownership types and parties of all nationalities, and observe equality of rights, opportunities and rules. All entities and parties, whether publicly or privately owned, and whether Chinese or foreign, are entitled to equal procedural and substantive rights in an IP action.

6. To create a more robust technical fact-finding mechanism, the method which ancillary judicial personnel, such as technical examination officers, technical advisory experts and technical expert witness, adopt in technical fact-finding should be defined, the capacities and resources of technical investigation fully exploited, and a coordinated system for finding and determining technical facts created.

7. Chinese courts should create an IP infringement damages system that is fair and reasonable, that observes proportionality and coordination, and that has a compensatory primary role and a punitive secondary role. This will be a system that allows compensation of the right-holder’s lost benefits, deprives the infringer of any profit, and makes the losing party pay for costs.

8. The China International Exchanges Base (Shanghai) for Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights will be leveraged to create an IP think-tank of international stature. Further efforts include organizing IP seminars and exchange activities with international impact, and strengthening outreach activities to promote China’s achievements in IP judicial protection.

Further international exchanges and cooperation include sending representatives to participate in international conferences, participating in overseas study trips, organizing international fora, and inviting foreign judges and academics to China for exchanges, so as to stay up to date with the latest developments in global IP protection, and promote communication and cooperation.

 

 

If you would like to discuss with us about the post, or share your views and suggestions, please contact Ms. Meng Yu (meng.yu@chinajusticeobserver.com ).

If you wish to receive news and gain deep insights on Chinese judicial system, please feel free to subscribe to our newsletters (subscribe.chinajusticeobserver.com ).

Contributors: Guodong Du 杜国栋 , Meng Yu 余萌

Save as PDF

You might also like

SPC Releases Guiding Cases on Minor Protection

In May 2024, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) issued guiding cases on judicial protection for minors, addressing issues like school bullying, domestic abuse of minors, and marital guardianship.

SPC Releases Typical Cases on Yellow River Protection

In May 2024, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) released typical cases demonstrating judicial efforts to protect the Yellow River Basin's ecology, coinciding with the first anniversary of the Yellow River Protection Law.

SPC Releases Typical Labor Dispute Cases

In April 2024, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) released six typical cases on labor disputes to guide similar cases, emphasizing worker rights and clarifying limitations on non-compete agreements.

SPP Publishes First IP Crime Prosecution White Paper

In April 2024, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) released a white paper on IP crime prosecution, highlighting the rise in IP crime cases from 2021 to 2023 and significant cases in emerging technologies.

SPC Releases Top 10 IP Cases (2023)

In April 2024, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) released the top 10 IP cases and 50 typical IP cases of 2023, emphasizing the protection of IP rights, including a notable ruling on Siemens trademark infringement and unfair competition.

SPC Unveils 2023 IP Protection Report

In April 2024, China's Supreme People's Court(SPC) released its 2023 report on intellectual property protection, highlighting a 3.41% increase in accepted cases, and a 117% rise in punitive damages awarded.

SPC Interprets International Treaties & Practices in Chinese Courts

In December 2023, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) reaffirmed the supremacy of international treaties over domestic laws in foreign-related civil and commercial cases with its “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of International Treaties and International Practices”(关于审理涉外民商事案件适用国际条约和国际惯例若干问题的解释).

SPC Releases IP Guiding Cases

In December 2023, China’s Supreme People's Court issued its 39th batch of guiding cases focused on intellectual property rights, covering various aspects such as IPR infringement disputes, patent ownership, and copyright ownership.