Recently, the Supreme People’s Court(SPC) of the PRC issued the Provisions on the Jurisdiction of IP Cases in Special IP Courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou(hereinafter as the Provisions).
According to the Provisions, the three IP courts will have jurisdiction over different types of IP cases. Beijing IP court will have priority for administrative cases and at the same time hear civil cases; Shanghai IP Court and Guangzhou IP court will mainly be responsible for civil infringement cases and administrative cases as a supplement.
The Provisions further define the jurisdictions of the first instance IP cases. Cases should cover civil and administrative cases related to patents, new plant varieties, layout design of integrated circuit, technological secrets and computer software; In addition, the IP courts shall be responsible for the administrative cases regarding copyright, trademark and unfair competition lawsuits against the decisions of the agencies under the State Council or the local people’s governments at or above the country level; Other civil cases regarding the recognition of well-known trademarks shall be also under the jurisdiction of IP courts.
According to the Provisions, Beijing IP court shall be especially hearing first-instance administrative cases of IP rights determination, the compulsory licensing relating to IP; and other administrative cases against the administrative acts.
Guangzhou IP court will have cross-regional jurisdiction over civil and administrative cases related to patents, new plant varieties, layout design of integrated circuit, technological secrets and computer software as well as the cases relating to the recognition of well-known marks.