China Supreme Court regulates on duty division regarding administrative cases of IP
Regulation of China Supreme Court on the Elaboration of Trial Duties Regarding Administrative Cases of Right Conferment and Confirmation of Intellectual Property such as Patent and Trademark (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulation”), adopted on June 22 at the 1469th Judicial Committee of the Supreme Court, takes effect on July 1, 2009.
Major points of the Regulation are as follows:
1. The four kinds of administrative case concerning IP, namely patent, trademark, integrated circuit layout design and new varieties of plants (formerly tried by the administration tribunal), fall under the competence of IP tribunal starting from July 1, 2009.
2. Based on the venue of the administration organs, the IP tribunals of No. 1 Intermediate Court of Beijing and No. 2 Intermediate Court of Beijing shall act as the first instance courts of such cases. The IP tribunal of High Court of Beijing shall be the second instance court.
3. With regard to cases where parties concerned appeal against the legally effective judgment or rulings made for the four types of administrative cases, the IP tribunal of the higher court shall assume the responsibility of retrial.
This Regulation represents an important measure to optimize the allocation of trial resources. In addition to adhering to proceedings of administrative cases, these IP cases also demand accurate judgment on some technical issues from the chief judge concerned. By assigning these cases to IP tribunal and take full advantage of the expertise and experiences of IP judges, this Regulation is expected to improve the efficiency of trial work and put resources into better use.
This elaboration of trial duties will bring the functions of IP tribunals at full play and further strengthen IP protection in China. Meanwhile, the Regulation will definitely improve the management of and coordination about such cases within the specific tribunals, and therefore will help resolve disputes and safeguard the rights and interests of parties concerned with greater efficiency and better results.
Enclosed is the Regulation in full text.
Regulation of the Supreme Court on the Elaboration of Trial Duties Regarding Administrative Cases of Right Conferment and Confirmation
Of Intellectual Property such as Patent and Trademark
This regulation is formulated with a view to implementing the Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategy, improving IP trial system and ensuring the uniformity of judicial criteria.
Article 1: The first instance and second instance cases listed below will be tried in the intellectual property tribunals of the concerned Beijing Intermediate Courts, Beijing High Court and China Supreme Court.
1. Cases in which the parties concerned do not accept the decisions on patent reexamination and invalidation made by the Patent Reexamination Board which is a patent administration authority under the State Council;
2. Cases in which the parties concerned do not accept the decisions on compulsory licensing of patent implementation and the royalties thereof made by the patent administration authority under the State Council;
3. Cases in which the parties concerned do not accept the decisions on trademark review and the rulings made by Trade Review and Adjudication Board which is an administration authority for industry and commerce under the State Council;
4. Cases in which the parties concerned do not accept the decisions on the review and cancellation of integrated circuit layout design made by the administration authority of IP issues under the State Council.
5. Cases in which the parties concerned do not accept the decisions on non-voluntary licensing of exploiting integrated circuit layout design and the royalties thereof made by the administration authority of IP under the State Council.
6. Cases in which the parties concerned do not accept the decisions on the reexamination, invalidation and name change of new varieties of plants made by the Reexamination Board for New Varieties of Plants which is an administration authority of agriculture and forestry under the State Council.
7. Cases in which the parties concerned do not accept the decisions on non-voluntary licensing of new varieties of plants and the royalties thereof made by the administration authority of agriculture and forestry under the State Council.
Article 2: If the parties concerned do not accept the legally effective judgment or ruling and appeal to a higher court for review, the intellectual property tribunal of the higher court will be responsible for the retrial.
Article 3: All the subject cases handled by the Supreme Court, Beijing High Court and the concerned Intermediate Courts shall be filed under “zhixing”1 series code.
Article 4: This regulation takes into effect on July 1, 2009. The “ Official Reply on Duties Elaboration Concerning Patent and Trademark Cases after the Amending of Patent Law and Trademark Law” issued by the Supreme Court on May 21, 2002 is repealed as of the same day.
1Chinese translation of “Intellectual Property Administrative (Cases)”