Judicial Interpretations Signal Improvements to Chinese Patent Rights
China’s Supreme People’s Court formally amended and published five judicial interpretations related to intellectual property rights. Founders Legal’s retained Chinese counsel, Chofn IP outlines the five changes below:
“The Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Administrative Cases Involving the Prosecution of Patent Rights (I) (effective from 12 September 2020)
is the first judicial interpretation made by the Supreme Court on the grant and confirmation of patent rights, consisting of 32 articles and containing detailed provisions on the conditions for the grant of patents and on the administrative procedures. These provisions will also affect the determination of the conditions for the grant of patents of the CNIPA in patent re-examination and invalidation proceedings.
The Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Cases Involving Trade Secret Infringement (effective from 12 September 2020)
is the first judicial interpretation the Supreme Court made specifically on trade secrets, which contains 29 articles and provides more comprehensively the relevant issues involved in the judicial protection of trade secrets.
The Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Concrete Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights (III) (effective from 14 September 2020)
contains 12 articles. This interpretation further clarifies the conditions for incrimination of offences relating to intellectual property rights and adjusting the threshold for incrimination.
The Reply of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Disputes Involving Online Intellectual Property Rights Infringement (effective September 14, 2020)
consists of 6 articles, which provides a review of issues related to the specific application of law in disputes involving online intellectual property rights infringement.
The Guiding Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court on the Trial of Civil Cases Involving Intellectual Property Rights on E-commerce Platforms (issued and entered into force on September 10, 2020)
contains 11 articles, which more comprehensively stipulates the relevant issues involved in the protection of intellectual property rights on e-commerce platforms.”
Contact us for detailed assessments as to what this may mean for your IP rights in China.
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