China’s IP Court to Be Established in 2014

In 2013, a total of 100 thousand IP cases of first instance were concluded by courts at all levels in China, according to information released at the third plenary meeting of the Second Session of the Twelfth National People’s Congress. At the meeting, Zhou Qiang, President of the Supreme People’s Court, said that in 2014, his authority would push the establishment of IP courts. Cao Jianming, Head of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, said at the meeting that China’s procuratorates enhanced judicial protection of IP rights, suing as many as 8,802 suspects for criminal violation of trademarks, patents, copyright and trade secrets in 2013. Huang Jianping, Deputy to the National People’s Congress, said that new initiatives on IP protection should be taken to stimulate the enthusiasm of experts and institutions in science and research. He believed that the establishment of IP courts would help integrate resources so as to improve the judicial system of IPR in this area.