IP judicial reforms require more for agents

With the upgrading of Chinese industry and the implementation of intellectual property (IP) strategy, demand for IP protection is increasing and the rapidly increasing difficult and complex IP cases involving cutting-edge technologies are continuing to test the adjudication capabilities of the courts. With a view to responding to social needs, the courts are continually exploring systems that place more stringent requirements on IP agents ad litem. This column looks at the reforms and innovations in the IP judicial field and their impact.

Specialized and cross-territorial centralized adjudication. From the initial implementation of the Patent Law in 1985, the number of courts competent to try patent cases increased from 30 to 93 at one time. As marked by the establishment of the Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai IP courts in 2014, IP adjudication has shown a tendency towards cross-territorial centralized adjudication, centralizing the trial of IP cases mainly involving technology.

The territorial jurisdiction of the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court covers all of Guangdong province, except Shenzhen; and the centralized acceptance of technology cases in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei regions by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court is currently being implemented. In 2017, the Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu cross-territorial IP courts that have centralized jurisdiction over technology cases and other major IP cases and the Hangzhou Internet Court that has centralized jurisdiction over online purchase-related disputes, online finance disputes and online copyright disputes in Hangzhou have been established in succession. As a result, the number of courts competent to hear patent cases has dropped to 67. This process serves as the best indicator of cross-territorial centralization of IP adjudication.

Author: Wang Yadong is a partner and Han Yufeng is a senior attorney at Rui Bai Law Firm