Research on Intellectual Property Law (Volume 3)

Author: Wang Limin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: The Intellectual Property Research Center of East China University of Political Science and Law publishes two volumes of Intellectual Property Law Research annually. Volume 2 was published in September 2005, Volume 3 in December 2005, and the call for manuscripts for Volume 4 is currently underway. This is part of the achievements since the establishment of the center. Recently, there have been frequent new developments in China's intellectual property judicial sphere. Here are three examples.
First, China will introduce new judicial interpretations on intellectual property. To address some prominent issues in China's intellectual property adjudication, the Supreme People's Court has drafted a judicial interpretation covering unfair competition, plant variety infringement, conflicts of intellectual property rights, and music television, and has been soliciting public opinions since November 18, 2005. This interpretation will fill some gaps in China's intellectual property legislation and strengthen judicial protection of intellectual property.
Second, China's intellectual property judicial protection is performing well. The number of various intellectual property cases accepted and concluded by Chinese courts has increased significantly. Statistics show that from January to October 2005, first-instance intellectual property civil cases (excluding unfair competition cases) accepted by local courts nationwide totaled 11,390, up 27.98% from the same period in 2004. First-instance intellectual property administrative cases accepted were 506, up 10.48% year-on-year. Additionally, 406 cases of intellectual property infringement crimes were accepted, up 24.54% year-on-year; 911 cases of crimes involving the production and sale of counterfeit or substandard goods were accepted, up 29.22% year-on-year; and 1,562 cases of illegal business operation crimes were accepted, up 36.90% year-on-year. In the latter two categories of crimes, many also involve intellectual property infringement. The increased judicial efforts reflect China's commitment to enhancing the level of intellectual property judicial protection.
Third, intellectual property judgments will be publicly released online. According to the National Intellectual Property Adjudication Work Symposium held in Xiamen, Fujian, in November 2005, higher courts across China will gradually publish all intellectual property judgments within their jurisdictions online. Higher courts lacking technical conditions may send electronic documents of such judgments to the Civil Third Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court for online publication. This practice will further improve the transparency of China's intellectual property adjudication.
The above three pieces of news are all related to the field of intellectual property adjudication and reflect, from one perspective, the continuous advancement of China's intellectual property legal system. However, the development of China's intellectual property legal system still faces heavy tasks and many unresolved issues. The dispute over two "Mengniu" trademarks—Mengniu Dairy and Mengniu Liquor—reported by the Legal Daily on November 21, 2005, in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, directly relates to intellectual property law.