2013年中國法院知識產權司法保護狀況（雙語）
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In 2013, the people’s courts have comprehensively strengthened their adjudication of intellectual property cases, and new traits have emerged:
First, slower increase in the number of cases, and greater adjudication difficulty. The increase in the number of first instance civil cases received by all the local people’s courts have fell from the previous year’s 45.99% to 1.33%. Newly received first instance administrative and criminal cases have also seen a changed trend, from the respective increases of 20.35% and 129.61%, to a decrease of 1.43% and 28%. From 2009 to 2012, the increases in newly accepted first instance civil cases, administrative cases and criminal cases were 37.63%, 33.05% and 48.05% respectively.
Based on the distribution of newly accepted cases, local people’s courts that have a larger case base are seen to experience a slower increase in the number of new cases, whereas those with a smaller case base, such as courts located in the central and western regions, experience a faster increase. Although the courts at large experienced a slower increase in the number of new cases, the number of first instance civil cases of intellectual property disputes involving foreign parties has grown considerably, with year-on-year increase of 18.75%.
The following types of cases have increased in numbers, therefore continued increase in the level of adjudication difficulty: new types of cases or complicated and problematic cases involving cutting-edge technology; brand protection cases involving the major interests of famous companies; technological contract cases involving the commercial use of technological outcomes; and unfair competition cases involving maintaining the market’s competition order. Some of these are: Beijing Ruibang Yonghe Technology and Trade Co., Ltd vs. Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd etc., involving a first vertical monopoly agreement dispute in China; Eli Lilly & Co. of U.S.A. etc. vs. Huang Mengwei, involving a dispute on infringement of technical secret; Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd vs. IDC Co., involving a royalty dispute over the licensing of standard-essential patents; Google Inc. vs. Wang Shen, involving a copyright infringement dispute; Zhongshan Longcheng Daily Product Co., Ltd. vs. Hubei Tongba Children's Appliances Co., Ltd, involving a dispute on utility patent infringement; Tianjin Tianlong Science & Technology of Agriculture Co.,Ltd vs. Jiangsu Xu Agricultural Seed Technology Co., Ltd, involving a dispute on infringement of new plant variety etc.
Second, substantial improvement in adjudication quality and efficiency. Clearance rate of civil intellectual property case of first instance at the local courts was stable, at 87.95%; reopen (zaishen) rate fell from 2012’s 0.20% to 0.09%; appeal cases reversed or remanded for retrial (chongshen) was at 5.84%.Clearance rate of administrative intellectual property cases of first instance at local courts was 87.04%, increased by 0.5% from last year; appeal cases reversed and remanded for retrial was at 9.8%, reopen rate fell from 2012’s 0.21% to 0.069%. The percentage of criminal intellectual property cases of first instance concluded within time limit was 91.66%, a rather high figure.
Third, effectiveness of judicial mediation evident. The people’s courts have observed the adjudication tenets of lawful, voluntary and regulated mediation to beef up mediation for intellectual property disputes, and have continued to seek creative ways in mediation for dispute resolution. The coordinated “three-in-one” mediation mechanism, which aligns judicial mediation with people’s mediation and administrative mediation, was streamlined and improved, so that many conflicts and disputes were settled at the grass-root level and at pre-litigation. The courts also continued to explore other mediation methods “mediation by appointment” (weituo tiaojie), “mediation by industry associations” (hangye tiaojie) and “mediation by experts” (zhuanjia tiaojie), to create a multi-channel coordinated mediation mechanism and find the correct breakthrough point to resolve problems encountered during mediation. There was also focus on mediating related cases to facilitate cooperation to the advantage of multiple parties and for greater social harmony.
For example, for complex cases involving serious disputes, the Shanxi High People’s Court did not simply sit within the courtroom and hear a case; instead, in its many attempts to find ways to resolve disputes, judges would perform fieldwork to better understand a case’s context, which enabled them to resolve cases involving important livelihoods at the grass-root level.
Cooperation between the people’s courts and the relevant authorities had enabled the withdrawal rate of first instance civil cases involving intellectual property disputes to reach 68.45%. High profile cases that were successfully mediated by the courts were:Beijing Changdi Mapping Technologies Co., Ltd vs. Careland Technology (Shenzhen) Co.,Ltd etc., involving a copyright dispute on alleged plagiarism of the “Dao Dao Tong” GPS Electronic Map; BMW vs. Shenzhen Century Baoma Apparel Co. Ltd, involving trademark infringement and unfair competition practices;Hong Kong Hung Wo Tong Medicament Ltd vs.Guilin Yibai Lijiang Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd, involving a dispute on technical cooperation agreement; Microsoft Inc. vs. Anhui Wanyi Science & Technology Co., Ltd, involving copyright infringement of computer software; Gao Xiaosong vs. Beijing Youshi Meters Network Technology Co., Ltd, involving copyright infringement etc.. The courts’ work has resulted in encouraging social and legal outcomes.
Fourth, greater judicial transparency. The people’s courts have worked towards “sunshine justice” by improving judicial openness to ensure the people’s right to know, right to participate and right to supervise judicial endeavours are ensured.
· Improved and regulated publication system for written judgements involving intellectual property cases. SPC’s intellectual property division has issued the Supreme People’s Court’s Provisional Guidelines for Online Publication of Written Judgements for Intellectual Property Cases, and has set up a staff system for online publication and implemented a regular reporting system for online publication, so as to ensure judgements are duly published online. As at end 2013, 61,368 legally effective written judgements for intellectual property disputes issued by the people’s courts of all levels have been published.
· Stepped up disclosure of details for major cases. For cases of major social concern, adjudication should be shown using all possible and appropriate media formats to improve the depth and extensiveness of disclosure. In major cases such as the unfair competition case of Tencent Inc. vs. Qihoo 360, and the Johnson & Johnson monopoly case, the courts employed open trials and the society has responded positively.
· Continued to widen channels of judicial openness. Live telecast, inviting deputies to people’s congresses to observe court proceedings, organise open days for the public, publishing white paper on judicial protection and collections of typical cases etc. are means which the courts disclose information on intellectual property adjudication to respond to social concerns. SPC has published the Intellectual Property Protection by Chinese Courts in 2012, and compiled and published the Yearbook on Intellectual Property Protection in China (2012). The high people’s courts of Beijing Municipality, Hebei Province, Shanghai Municipality, Jiangsu Province, Anhui Province, Shandong Province, Guangdong Province, Hainan Province, Gansu Province and Xinjiang Autonomous Region etc. have also released publications on intellectual property protection in their respective jurisdictions.
· Elaborated legal reasoning in written judgements. The courts have disclosed comprehensively and objectively the case facts, evidence relied upon for decision and arguments by each party, and decision rationale, so as to improve the public’s comprehension of the court’s ruling. This would also enable the written judgement to demonstrate the entire judicial process, present a positive judiciary’s image, regulated judicial behaviour. Other objectives include disseminating legal knowledge and taking the lead in the society to establish the correct social behaviour and transmit the positive rule-of-law ethos.
· Accepted supervision on own initiative. The courts have solicited widely from different social sectors opinions and recommendations on judicial protection, and have taken the initiative to accept supervision by the general public, the prosecutorial and supervisory authorities and the media for their work on judicial protection. SPC attaches great importance to the opinions and recommendations on the Report on Intellectual Property Adjudication by the Supreme People’s Court presented at the 13th meeting of the Standing Committee of 11th National People’s Congress, and has studied and developed implementation plans and completed a special report to ensure that the standing committee’s review recommendations are implemented. Local people’s courts of all levels have also communicated frequently with people’s congresses’ deputies and members of the local people's political consultative conferences to update them on the progress of judicial protection and improve their work. The High People’s Court of Jiangxi Province has made a special presentation on the progress of its work on judicial protection of intellectual property, and was commended by the deputies for their good work.
Fifth, continued increase in adjudication impact. The people’s courts attach high priority to adjudication of major cases, and have heard a series of cases of great social concern, extensive impact and significant disputed interest, and involve the direction of industry development. In doing so, the courts have ensured equal protection of the lawful rights of different categories of rights- holders and of local and foreign parties. The courts’ work is recognised and commended by the society at large and at home and abroad, and the impact of judicial protection of intellectual property has been significantly increased.
For example, in the case of Tencent Inc. vs. Qihoo 360 involving unfair competition, and which requires determination of competition rules in the internet domain, SPC put together a five-judge panel, whereby Xi Xiaoming, vice-president of the SPC, was the presiding judge. The entire hearing was telecast live, and more than forty domestic and foreign media companies gave extensive coverage. The strong adjudication team and open hearing, as well as the sustained and wide attention drawn, indicates the confidence and determination on the part of the people’s courts to step up judicial protection of intellectual property. The public’s response also demonstrates considerable popular resonance, whether on the part of the social public or holders of intellectual property rights.
II. Grounded in the goal of innovation-driven development, and focused on implementing the intellectual property strategy
The 18th Party Congress has laid out a major strategy at the critical juncture of China’s plan to build a complete xiaokang society, which encompasses accelerating the building of a more robust socialist market economy, remodelling the growth strategy, implementing an innovation-driven development strategy, and strengthening intellectual property protection. The people’s courts are fully aware of the unprecedented circumstances and new tasks they face in protecting intellectual property, and took full advantage of the opportunities presented before them, met the challenges, and leveraged their official roles to serve the larger interests. They have implemented the national intellectual property strategy, and have relentlessly contributed to ensuring and facilitating economic and social development. The High People’s Court of Guangdong Province has been awarded the honour of “Progressive Team in Implementation of the National Intellectual Property Strategy”.
