On October 26, 2018, Decision on Several Issues Concerning Litigation Procedures of Patent and Other IP Cases was adopted by the NPC (hereinafter as “Decision”). According to the decision, a new Supreme Court IP Tribunal will be established to handle appeals in specific IP civil and administrative cases that involves more technical issues.
The following is the full text of the decision.
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on several issues concerning litigation procedures of patent and other intellectual property cases
(Adopted at the 6th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on October 26, 2018)
In order to unify the criteria of judgements in intellectual property cases and further strengthen the judicial protection of intellectual property and optimize the legal environment to promote scientific and technological innovation, the following decision was specifically made:
Article 1
If the parties are not satisfied with the judgment or adjudication of the first instance of an intellectual property civil case that involves more technical issues, such as invention patent, utility model patent, new varieties of plants, layout designs of integrated circuits, technical secrets, computer software, monopoly and so on, they shall appeal to the Supreme People’s Court.
Article 2
If the parties are not satisfied with the judgment or adjudication of the first instance of an intellectual property administrative case that involves more technical issues, such as patents, new varieties of plants, layout designs of integrated circuits, technology secrets, computer software, monopoly and so on, they shall appeal to the Supreme People’s Court.
Article 3
For the judgment, adjudication, or mediation decision of the first instance of the above identified cases, that has already come into effect, when the retrial or protest is filed according to the judicial supervision procedure, they shall be heard by the Supreme People’s Court. The Supreme People’s Court may also designate a lower People’s Court to conduct a retrial according to law.
Article 4
Three years after the effective date of this Decision, the Supreme People’s Court shall report on the implementation of this Decision to the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress.
Article 5
This decision shall come into force on January 1, 2019.
