According to the amended judicial interpretation released by the Supreme People's Court(hereinafter as the SPC) recently, the jurisdiction of patent lawsuits has been adjusted, and more preliminary courts can be allowed to hear patent lawsuits to deal with the rising number of IP disputes in China.
The new amendment enables preliminary courts to be designated hear civil patent disputes. Previously, patent cases were mostly restricted to the intermediate and higher people's courts. This however can not meet the increasing number of patent disputes in recent years in China.
It is learnt that the SPC already approved 3 preliminary courts as pilot preliminary courts to hear patent civil disputes for utility model and design since 2009. The three courts were Zhejiang Yiwu Court, Jiangsu Kunshan Court, and Beijing's Haidian District Court.
