Recently, Hangzhou Intellectual Property Arbitration Court was set up in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The establishment of this court is to hear arbitration cases relating to contract disputes in the area of intellectual property covering patent, trademark, copyright and other technology trades.
This has provided another option for rightholders in protecting their IP rights. The decision from arbitration is of the equal legal effects as the court decision. There are no limitations with regard to instances or jurisdiction. Wherever the dispute occurs, it may be arbitrated by Hangzhou IP Arbitration Court. The arbitration decision is both domestically and internationally effective, and can be enforced in China and all contracting countries of United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
To some extent, the arbitration court can share the burden with the court in handling the increasing number of IP cases. It is learned that in 2012, Alibaba and Taobao, online business companies, were receiving about 7 million IP disputes, which is 50 times of the total cases handled by both administrative agencies and courts. These cases are mainly in the areas of cellphone, digital cameras and MP3. One example of the IP infringement is the sale of “copycat” products.
