Wu Handong (Photo/Website of the State Council Information Office)

Chinese eminent legal scholar Wu Handong expressed that he was not surprised to hear the news about Qualcomm Inc. filing a lawsuit against Apple Inc. in a Chinese court, saying that he believes intellectual property (IP) rights holders can get fair judgment when choosing to file a lawsuit in China, Economic View App reported on Dec.11.

“In the eyes of a judge, there are only the plaintiff and defendant as well as the obligee and obligor,” said Wu, former President of China’s Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, in a press conference held by the State Council Information Office of China on Tuesday when being asked about the lawsuit between the Chinese subsidiaries of Qualcomm Inc. and Apple Inc.

Not just Chinese judges, but the judges of all countries should follow the principle of national treatment and grant equal protection to all the rights holders of inventions without distinction between nationalities or sizes and types of business, expressed Wu, adding “this is the basic position a judge shall adhere to”.

Wu noted that since China is a large market with a huge population, international enterprises can gain the best rewards from investing in China, and that he believes that those IP rights holders who choose to claim their rights in Chinese courts can get fair judgment in the end.

The Supreme People's Court of The People's Republic of China is going to establish a courtroom for IP rights, which means China is to establish a centralized jurisdiction system for IP appeals as the U.S. and Japan did, said Wu, who also pointed out that “this indicates that China is endeavoring to unify standards of judgment and enhance judicial protection.”

Yang Wu, head of All-China Patent Attorneys Association (ACPAA), expressed at the press conference that it means a lot that Qualcomm Inc. claimed IP rights from Apple Inc. through a Chinese court.

First, it means that international companies have confidence in China’s judicial judgment, and second, they are very bullish about the Chinese market, said Yang, adding that it’s a good signal that China will become an increasingly important place for lawsuits concerning IP rights.