Unifying Technical IP Adjudication: The Launching of Intellectual Property Tribunal of Supreme People's Court

AuthorLin Meng
Pages440-446
440 TSINGHUA CHINA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 11:439
UNIFYING TECHNICAL IP ADJUDICATION:
THE LAUNCHING OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
TRIBUNAL OF SUPREME PEOPLE’S COURT
LIN Meng
I. INTRODUCTION
On 1 January, 2019, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court
(hereinafter referred to as “SPC”) inaugurated its Inte llectual
Property (hereinafter referred to as “IP”) Tribunal located in Beijing,
which becomes the top judicial authority for a bunch of highly
technical IP cases. The establishment of IP Tribunal of SPC is a
major breakthrough in China’s protection of IP rights. This new
Tribunal also serves to further optimize the legal environment for
scientific and technological innovation, and to accelerate the
implementation of the Innovation-driven Development Strategy.
This note briefly sketches the jurisdiction of IP Tribunal and
highlights several institutional innovations. Part II introduces the
jurisdiction of IP Tribunal based on the technical-oriented
classification of IP cases and discusses the inclusion of antitrust
jurisdiction in IP Tribunal. Part III casts light on the leapfrog appeal
mechanism and other advanced trial mechanisms.
II. THE JURISDICTION OF THE IP TRIBUNAL
China’s National I ntellectual Property Strategy Outline
(hereinafter referred to as “Outline”) promulgated in 2008 proposed
“to improve the trial system for intellectual property and optimize the
allocation of judicial resources”.1 Driven by this vision, China has
been exploring the specialization of adjudication for IP rights in the
past decade. Different from other specialized IP courts in other
countries, the SPC IP Tribunal possesses a delicate jurisdiction over
technical IP cases and antitrust cases.
The SPC IP Tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction over appellate
cases of technical IP disputes and antitrust disputes. While the
selection of technical IP cases, as a departure from the traditional
1 Guojia Zhishi Cha nquan Zhanlue Gangyao ( 家知识 产权 战略 纲要) [Chinas Natio nal
Intellectual Property Strategy Outline], (Promulgat ed by State Council. Jun. 5, 2008) (Chinalawinfo).

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