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 | Saturday, April 15, 2000, updated at 13:59(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Chinese Courts Enhance Intellectual Property ProtectionChina's emphasis on intellectual property (IP) protection has been transformed into action by the judicial authorities and enforcement departments, a senior Chinese judge said in Beijing on April 14."The judicial work on IP cases of the people's courts has developed with the establishment and improvement of China's legal system on IP protection," said Cheng Yongshun, deputy chief of the Intellectual Property Division of Beijing Higher People's Court, at a high-profile IP symposium which ends Friday. "The Chinese people nowadays widely accept the notion that IP protection is important for promoting scientific and technological progress," he said. Since the 1990s, the number of cases involving IP disputes accepted by people's courts nationwide has been increasing year by year. Statistics show that from 1992 to 1997, people's courts at all levels accepted a total of 29,353 cases involving IP at the first instance, of which 28,294 were concluded. Among those cases that were concluded, nearly 400 involved foreigners or foreign enterprises. "The adjudication of these cases effectively safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of the IP owners, encouraged people's initiative, and maintained normal economic order and fair market competition," Cheng said. China began legislative work on IP about 20 years ago. In November 1996, the Supreme People's Court set up a special tribunal for IP cases, which not only hears major cases but also provides guidance and expertise in cases handled by local courts. The amendments to the Criminal Law, approved by the country's top legislature in 1997, stipulates severe punishments for infringements of trademarks, patents, copyrights, and business secrets. "Since IP is an intangible property, the judicial protection thereof is far more difficult and complex than that of tangible property," said Cheng, who has been involved in many important IP cases. Several economically developed municipalities and provinces, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, and Guangdong, Jiangsu and Fujian provinces, have also established tribunals for adjudicating IP cases. "The handling of IP cases by the professional judges of special tribunals not only contributes to the accumulation of the judges' experience in this respect, but also helps improve quality and efficiency of the handling of IP cases," Cheng said. However, he added, because China only recently adopted the mechanism for dealing with IP cases, judges must keep their knowledge current, and learn from their overseas counterparts.
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