Di Wu
In order to build and realize the new development paradigm, promote high quality development and provide robust judicial services and protections, the Supreme People’s Court promulgated on April 22, 2021 the People’s Courts’ Judicial Protection Plan for Intellectual Property Rights (2021-2025) to comprehensively strengthen the judicial protection of intellectual property rights. Specific highlights are provided as follows:
1. General requirements
(1). Guiding philosophy: Adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping’s new era socialism with Chinese characteristics, continuously strengthen the judicial protection of intellectual property rights, optimize the rule of law environment for intellectual property rights, and provide robust judicial services and protections for the development of a strong intellectual property rights, world-leading science and technology, modern socialist country.
(2). Basic principles: Ensure the proper direction for the development of judicial protection of intellectual property rights, continuously enhance the overall effectiveness of such judicial protection, protecting innovation in an innovative manner, continuously promote the high quality development of intellectual property trial matters, as well as the creation of a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the main focus and mutually-beneficial circulation between domestic and overseas .
(3). Overall goal: A specialized trial system for intellectual property by 2025 with more robust judicial mechanisms and significantly improved overall quality of the trial team members.
2. Make full use of the roles of intellectual property trials
(1). Strengthen the protection of scientific and technological innovation achievements: Fully implement the Patent Law, make full use of the advantages in the consolidation of patents and other technical cases, strengthen the rule guidance and value-oriented roles of judicial adjudication in the protection of scientific and technological innovation achievements, and properly increase the capabilities and effectiveness from service innovation-driven development.
(2). Strengthen the protection of copyright and related rights: Fully implementing the Copyright Law, make full use of the leadership and guidance to high quality culture provided by copyright adjudication, promote core socialist values and facilitate the development and prosperity of cultural and scientific enterprises.
(3). Strengthen the protection of commercial marks: Strengthen the judicial protection of trademark rights, promote the cultivation of famous brands and the growth of trade in goods and services, enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, and push for the establishment of a country with strong brands.
(4). Strengthen anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition trials: Strengthen the adjudication work in anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition cases, strengthen the fundamental position of competition policies, timely formulate relevant judicial interpretations, properly restrict all types of monopoly and unfair competition, eliminate market foreclosure, and promote fair competition.
3. Optimization of the working mechanisms of intellectual property protection
(1). Improve the guidance system for intellectual property trials that is led by judicial interpretations and policies, uses guiding cases as teachings and model cases as references; optimize the professional judges’ meeting system, improve the similar case and new case type search system, and build a standard mechanism for unified application of law.
(2). Improve the diversified dispute resolution mechanisms: Full reliance on the people’s courts mediation platform, vigorous promotion of the online litigation and mediation communications mechanism for intellectual property disputes, and effectively prioritize non-litigation dispute resolution mechanisms.
(3). Strengthen the interface mechanism between administrative law enforcement and the judiciary: Further promote the united development of online and offline integration of IPR protection and strengthen the cooperation with administrative IPR departments.
(4). Deepen the international IPR cooperation and competition mechanisms: Push for the extraterritorial application of China’s IPR-related laws and regulations so as to protect the safety and rights and interests of our citizens and enterprises abroad, strengthen international judicial cooperation and collaboration, properly resolve international parallel litigation, and maintain national security in the IPR field.