Local IP administrations admits 13,800 patent infringement cases in first half

China's local IP administrations executed the administrative adjudication of patent infringement disputes steadily in the first half of 2021, with an eye on key spots of both online and offline areas, key links and crucial periods including the May Day and the Dragon Boat Festival holidays by consolidating resources which has evidently paid dividends. A total of 13,800 patent infringement cases were admitted in different provinces, with Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shanghai, Sichuan, Fujian, Hebei, Beijing, Anhui, Henan and Shandong ranking at the front in the country.

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the 2021 China Intellectual Property Administrative Protection Work Plan this March and deployed the work of strengthening administrative adjudication of patent infringement disputes in five aspects including improving the collection and sorting mechanism of patent disputes and strengthening the crackdown on patent infringements. Local IP administrations formulated implementation plans in accordance with the requirements to effectively promote patent administrative adjudication.

The CNIPA in the first half of this year identified Anhui, Fujian and other places as the second batch of pilot demonstration areas for administrative adjudication of patent infringement disputes on the basis of the first batch of pilot areas, encouraging the above areas to take the lead and make breakthroughs in advancing the administrative adjudication system and relevant work. Jointly with the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China, the CNIPA also issued notices to publicize 13 typical experiences and practices emerging in Beijing and Hebei to further refine the administrative adjudication system and procedural rules by virtue of multiple platforms comprised of the China Intellectual Property News, the China Market Regulation News, CNIPA's official Wechat and website, striving to foster the sound competitive atmosphere.

Local administrations, such as Beijing, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, have taken measures to advance the work under the guidance of the Work Plan, which would achieve remarkable results. Six central provinces including Shanxi and Hunan, and 18 cities in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces respectively signed cooperation agreements for administrative protection, establishing the cross-regional cooperation team and building the cooperation mechanism for administrative adjudication's clue transfer, investigation and execution, joint law enforcement, mutual recognition and sharing. The CNIPA jointly with IP administrations in Hunan and Sichuan continues to advance the systematic capabilities of administrative adjudication by innovating online and offline methods to conduct special training for the backbones. Wuhan has formulated the patent administrative enforcement mechanism by issuing the Administrative Rules for Patent Administrative Rulings and Administrative Mediation Enforcement (Trial Version) to effectively advance the pilot work of constructing the demonstration area for patent administrative adjudication. IP administrations across the country strive to tighten the regulations of patent infringements, which gives full play to the administrative protection advantages and creates a sound climate for innovation and business.

In the next step, the CNIPA will further comprehensively strengthen the IPR protection and enhance the administrative adjudication in the field of IP infringement disputes in accordance with the requirements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. Centering on the development of the pilot demonstration, the CNIPA will coordinate its IP administrations to enhance the administrative adjudication of patent infringement disputes, strengthen the guidance and raise the capabilities of administrative adjudication among the whole system, which helps to serve the country's economic and social development and provide the solid guarantee for applying the new development philosophy and creating a new development pattern to enhance high-quality development.