Source: China IP News

Over the past five years, Chinese courts at different levels concluded 683,000 IP cases, and prosecution proceedings were launched against 120,000 suspects accused of IP crimes, 2.1 folds over the past five years, according to the reports delivered respectively by Zhou Qiang, President of Supreme People's Court (SPC) and Cao Jianming, Procurator General of Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) during the 13th NPC on March 9.

Zhou revealed that over the past five years, SPC issued the outline on IPR judicial protection, and worked to explore the application of punitive damages to solve problems including low infringement repercussions but high costs for enforcing rights. China tried a series of trademark cases lodged by the U.S. basketball icon Michael Jordan, demonstrating its determination in upholding a fair competition environment. Three highly-specialized IP courts were launched in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, together with 15 IP tribunals peppered around in Tianjin, Nanjing, Wuhan and other 12 cities, paying dividends in trial quality. Zhou pointed out that in 2018, concerted efforts will be made to implement the Opinions Regarding Reform and Innovation for Trial of Intellectual Property Cases, so as to improve IP trial system and upgrade legal environment via innovation.

Cao informed the congress that over the past five years, the SPP stepped up IP judicial protection by establishing information-sharing platform on striking infringement and counterfeiting in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Guangdong, Sichuan and Ningxia. SPP has issued the top ten typical cases of IP protection for five consecutive years. SPP bolstered research in S&T innovation, clearly defining the boundaries between legal part-time income, equity dividends, S&T income and bribe, embezzlement as well as the boundaries between disciplinary infraction and criminal act, so as to respect and protect innovation and the public's desires to innovate. SPP handled 843 cross-regions and special cases on food and drug, environment resources, IPR and maritime, and prosecution proceedings were launched against 1,332 criminals. In 2018, SPP will be committed to ensuring legal safeguard for sustainable and healthy socio-economic development in the new era. For instance, SPP will endeavor to serve supply-side reform, make all kinds of economy property rights under well protection, screen and deliberate property-right related pleas and safeguard S&T innovation and commercialization.