CHINA (PRC FIRMS): An Introduction to Intellectual Property: Litigation
IP Litigation in China - Strengthening Protection
中国知识产权诉讼 - 进一步加强保护
Overview
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges as well as opportunities for global intellectual property ("IP") protection. The number of IP applications in China has shown a steady growth after a brief slowdown in 2020. Significant progress has been made in China’s reform of the intellectual property system in a timely and effective manner.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee of the Communist Party ("CPC") has placed IP protection in a more prominent position. From 2013 to June 2021, Chinese courts accepted 2.181 million first-instance IP cases of various types, and concluded 2.06 million cases. Among them, there were 143,000 patent cases, 1.316 million copyright cases, 437,000 trademark cases, and 18,000 technology contract cases. China has become the country with the largest number of IP cases, especially with regard to patent cases, and has one of the shortest trial periods.
引言
新冠疫情的爆发对全球的知识产权保护提出了新的挑战，也带来了新的机遇。中国知识产权申请量在新冠疫情期间的经历了短暂的增速放缓后仍然显现出了稳健的增长态势，而作为公共政策产物的知识产权制度也努力作出了及时有效的回应，在各个方面不断修订完善。自中共十八大以来，党中央把知识产权保护工作摆在了更加突出的位置。2013年至2021年6月，中国法院受理各类知识产权一审案件218.1万件，审结206万件。其中，审结专利案件14.3万件，著作权案件131.6万件，商标案件43.7万件，技术合同案件1.8万件。中国已成为审理知识产权案件尤其是专利案件最多的国家，也是审理周期最短的国家之一。
Development of intellectual property legal system
The intellectual property legal system has been continuously improved. The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China promulgated on 28 May 2020, offering more detailed provisions on the subject matter of intellectual property, punitive damages, technology contracts, and trade secrets. In 2019, the National People's Congress revised the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. In 2020, the Patent Law and the Copyright Law were revised. In the same year, Amendment (XI) to the Criminal Law was adopted which revised the provisions regarding crimes of infringing intellectual property rights.
Strengthening the judicial protection of trade secrets: In September 2020, the Supreme People's Court of P.R.C. promulgated the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Cases Involving Infringements upon Trade Secrets, which detailed provisions on the protection of trade secret, confidentiality obligations, infringement standards, and civil liabilities, unified judgment standards, and increased the cost of intellectual infringement.
Improving the pharmaceutical patent linkage system: In line with the pharmaceutical patent linkage system in the revision of the Patent Law, the National Medical Products Administration and the National Intellectual Property Administration issued the Implementation Measures for the Mechanism for Early Resolution of Drug Patent Disputes (for Trial Implementation) on 4 July 2021.
Continuing to improve international influence: China has gradually established a comprehensive intellectual property system in line with common international practices, and has joined almost all major international conventions in the field of intellectual property. In April 2020, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances came into force; it is the first international treaty related to intellectual property signed in China.
知识产权法律制度建设
知识产权法律制度体系不断完善: 2020年5月28日颁布的《民法典》对于知识产权客体、惩罚性赔偿、技术合同以及商业秘密等内容做出了更为完善的规定。2019年全国人大修订了《商标法》、《反不正当竞争法》，2020年修订了《专利法》和《著作权法》。全国人大第二十四次会议通过了《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（十一）》，对侵犯知识产权犯罪等罪名进行了修订。
强化商业秘密司法保护: 2020年9月，最高人民法院公布《关于审理侵犯商业秘密民事案件适用法律若干问题的规定》，细化保护客体、保密义务、侵权判断、民事责任等规定，统一裁判标准，加大侵权违法成本。
完善药品专利链接制度: 与《专利法》修订中引入的药品专利链接制度相配套，国家药品监督管理局、国家知识产权局组织起草了《药品专利纠纷早期解决机制实施办法（试行）》，于2021年7月4日公布施行。
持续提高国际影响力: 中国逐步建起了符合国际通行规则、门类较为齐全的知识产权制度，加入了知识产权领域几乎所有主要的国际公约。2020年4月，首个在中国签署并以中国城市命名的知识产权国际条约《视听表演北京条约》正式生效。
Improvement of intellectual property litigation rules
Establishing the punitive damages system: Article 1185 of the Civil Code clarifies that the punitive damage is a supplemental remedy to the infringement compensation mechanism. China has also added punitive damages clauses when revising the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the Patent Law, and the Copyright Law. Meanwhile, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of Punitive Damages in the Trial of Intellectual Property Infringement Civil Cases, which came into effect on 3 March 2021, specifically clarifies the practical rules of the punitive damages system.
Improving evidence system for intellectual property litigation: On 16 November 2020, the Supreme People’s Court promulgated the Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Evidence in Civil Procedures Involving Intellectual Property Rights, focusing on improving the procedure of evidence submission, evidence obstruction, evidence preservation and judicial appraisal. The prevention of secondary disclosure of trade secrets has been stated in detail.
Enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property cases: On 10 December 2020, the Supreme People's Court published the Guidelines for the Enforcement of Judgments concerning Intellectual Property Rights which aims to facilitate the parties to apply for compulsory enforcement and ensure that the effective judgments of intellectual property cases can be promptly enforced in accordance with the law. The Guidelines clarify the specific scope of intellectual property cases, and at the same time, make provisions on the scope of enforcement, procedures, measures and remedies for intellectual property civil and administrative cases.
健全知识产权诉讼规则
确立惩罚性赔偿制度:《民法典》第1185条明确了我国知识产权“补偿为主、惩罚为辅”知识产权侵权损害赔偿机制。同时，中国先后在修订《反不正当竞争法》、《专利法》和《著作权法》时增加了惩罚性赔偿条款。2021年3月3日起施行的《最高人民法院关于审理侵害知识产权民事案件适用惩罚性赔偿的解释》，则具体明确了惩罚性赔偿制度的实践细则。
完善知识产权诉讼证据制度: 2020年11月16日，最高人民法院出台《关于知识产权民事诉讼证据的若干规定》，着力于完善证据提交、证明妨碍、证据保全、司法鉴定等制度，依法适当减轻权利人举证负担，对知识产权民事诉讼中权利人“举证难”、预防商业秘密“二次泄露”等内容进行了详细规定。
加大知识产权案件执行力度: 2020年12月10日，最高人民法院发布《知识产权判决执行工作指南》，旨在方便当事人向人民法院申请强制执行，确保知识产权案件生效裁判得到依法迅速执行。该指南明确了知识产权案件的具体范围，同时对知识产权民事、行政案件的执行范围、程序、措施及救济途径等做出规定。
Judicial Reform of Intellectual Property Court
Improving the professional court system for intellectual property: In 2018, China established the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court to hear patent and other technical intellectual property appeals across the country. In 2020, the Hainan Free Trade Port Intellectual Property Court was established following the set up of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou Intellectual Property Courts. Many IP courts or tribunals have set up specialised tribunals or collegial panels for certain types of cases in order to improve their specialised adjudication capabilities. For example, on 26 September 2021, the Guangzhou Internet Court announced the establishment of a "Specialized Collegial Panel for Data Related Disputes" (the "Data Collegial Panel") to handle data-related cases involving personal information protection and data security. According to the Guangzhou Internet Court, the Data Collegial Panel will focus on areas that are closely related to the data market, such as virtual property, data property rights and interests, personal information protection, Internet market competition order, artificial intelligence technology, etc.
Chinese courts have carried out the "three-in-one" reform, allowing intellectual property courts to handle all intellectual property cases related to civil, administrative and criminal law in a unified manner: In September 2020, the Interpretation (III) of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate of Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases Involving Infringements upon Intellectual Property Rights was published, and it clarified the standard of conviction and heavier penalties for criminal cases of intellectual property rights.
Strengthening the guidance of intellectual property cases: To unify the application of laws, Chinese courts have established a case guidance system consisting of guiding cases, bulletin cases and typical cases, set up an intellectual property case database and adjudication rule database, as well as published Guiding Opinions to strengthen the retrieval of similar cases.
China is striving and embracing challenges, and turning crises into opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Undoubtedly, China has achieved outstanding results in improving the level of intellectual property protection.
知识产权审判司法改革
健全知识产权专业化审判体系: 2018年中国成立了最高人民法院知识产权法庭，审理全国范围内专利等技术类知识产权上诉案件。2020年在北京、上海、广州知识产权法院的基础上新设海南自由贸易港知识产权法院。众多知识产权法院或法庭针对部分类型案件建立了专门的审判庭或者合议庭，着力提高专业审判能力。例如：2021年9月26日，广州互联网法院宣布成立“涉数据纠纷专业合议庭”（“数据合议庭”），以专门审理该院关于个人信息保护和数据安全等数据相关的案件。广州互联网法院表示，合议庭将重点聚焦网络虚拟财产、数据财产权益、个人信息保护、互联网竞争秩序、人工智能技术等与数据市场培育密切相关的领域。
全国法院开展知识产权民事、行政和刑事案件审判“三合一”改革，由知识产权审判庭统一审理知识产权民事、行政和刑事案件: 2020年9月12日，最高人民法院会同最高人民检察院出台《关于办理侵犯知识产权刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释（三）》，明确了知识产权刑事案件的入罪标准及从重处罚情形，规范办案程序。
加强知识产权案例指导: 为统一裁判标准，中国法院建立指导性案例、公报案例、典型案例等组成的案例指导制度体系，建成知识产权案例库和裁判规则库，出台加强类案检索指导意见。
后疫情时代的挑战和机遇共生并存，中国的知识产权保护正努力顺势而为、化危为机，直面应对新冠疫情带来的冲击和影响，在提升知识产权保护水平中取得突出成效。