Strengthen the judicial protection of intellectual property rights and open up services to the outside world at a higher level
Vice President of the China Law Society and President of the Chinese Society of International Law
Huang Jin. The protection of intellectual property rights is an important part of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. At the 25th collective study of the 19th Political Bureau, the general secretary stressed that "the protection of intellectual property rights is related to the overall situation of the country's opening up, and only by strictly protecting intellectual property rights can we optimize the business environment and build a new system of a higher-level open economy". At present, China is in a critical period of transformation from a large intellectual property country to an intellectual property power, and strengthening judicial protection of intellectual property rights is a key part of comprehensively improving the level of intellectual property protection in China and serving the overall situation of the country's opening up. Since its establishment five years ago, the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court has given full play to the institutional advantages of the appeal and trial mechanism for intellectual property cases at the national level, and has strongly served the overall situation of the country's high-quality development and high-level opening up by fairly hearing foreign-related intellectual property cases in accordance with the law, equally protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign parties, and substantively resolving foreign-related intellectual property disputes. Its achievements are outstanding and the results are remarkable.
The fair trial of foreign-related intellectual property cases in accordance with the law demonstrates the clear attitude of Chinese courts to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights and protect Chinese and foreign parties equally. After the establishment of the court, the trial of the "first gavel" of the trial - the infringement of the invention patent involving "automobile wipers" was the first public demonstration of the intellectual property court's performance of the adjudication function of the appellate trial mechanism of intellectual property cases at the national level. In the case of confirmation of the invention patent of ticagrelor, the court properly handled the relationship between the acceptance of supplementary experimental data and the maintenance of the first-to-apply system, and clarified the positive and negative conditions for accepting supplementary experimental data, which is of great significance for the effective and reasonable protection of drug innovation. In the case of infringement of the invention patent of "cellulase", the court protected the patent right of the foreign entity in the field of biological enzymes in accordance with the law, and fully supported the right holder's claim for compensation of 20 million yuan. In the case of infringement of the invention patent of "intramedullary nail with lock", the right holder was a Swiss company and the alleged infringers were three Chinese enterprises, and the court accurately applied the rule of exclusion of obstruction of proof in the second instance, and changed the judgment to fully support the foreign right holder's claim for compensation of more than 2,000 yuan when the right holder preliminarily proved that the actual infringement profits of the accused manufacturer exceeded 20 million yuan, and the accused manufacturer refused to submit the account books. Through fair adjudication in accordance with the law, it continues to convey the attitude of Chinese courts towards equal treatment and equal protection of Chinese and foreign parties such as domestic and foreign-funded enterprises, state-owned and private enterprises, etc., which is of positive significance for helping to create a market-oriented, law-based and international first-class business environment.
Actively participate in international cooperation and contribute "Chinese wisdom" to global intellectual property governance. In the "OPPO v. Sharp" SEP licensing dispute jurisdictional case, the court actively explored the jurisdiction of foreign-related cases, and clarified the jurisdiction of Chinese courts over disputes over global licensing conditions of SEPs based on the principle of appropriate connection, which is of typical significance and promotion for the timely protection of the legitimate rights and interests of market entities and the effective maintenance of a fair and competitive market environment.
Practice the concept of active justice, substantively resolve foreign-related intellectual property disputes, and promote the continuous improvement of the international credibility and influence of foreign-related justice. The "wireless vacuum cleaner" invention patent infringement case involved two well-known Chinese and foreign enterprises in the global home appliance industry, and the court adhered to the active judiciary, comprehensively sorted out a series of disputes between the two parties, actively built a dialogue platform for the parties, mediated in the middle, and facilitated the two parties to reach a package of settlement agreements on more than 20 disputes around the world, and completed the performance in a timely manner, effectively resolving the disputes and greatly reducing the litigation burden of the parties. In the case of infringement of the technical secret of "chloroacetic acid production process", the court settled the seven disputes between the two parties in a package by mediation, including this case, and promoted the two parties to reach a license for 14 related patented technologies, which not only resolved the conflict between the two parties that lasted for 14 years, but also cleared the patent barriers for the parties to use the relevant technology, and achieved a win-win effect. The handling of these cases is a vivid embodiment of the court's implementation of the concept of active justice in the new era, which has won the unanimous recognition of Chinese and foreign parties, improved the credibility of foreign-related justice, and fully confirmed that China is increasingly becoming one of the preferred places for international intellectual property litigation.
Reform and opening up is a distinctive symbol of contemporary China. Under the guidance of major decisions and deployments such as comprehensively deepening reforms, accelerating high-level opening-up, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, we have reason to believe and expect that the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court can further improve the efficiency of judicial protection of intellectual property rights, strengthen the judicial guarantee for the implementation of the national innovation-driven development strategy and intellectual property strategy, provide strong service support for the construction of a new system of a higher-level open economy, and promote the global intellectual property governance system towards a more fair, open and inclusive system, inclusive and win-win development to contribute more Chinese wisdom.
*: Information Bureau of the Supreme People's Court.