Research on Intellectual Property Law, Volume 3

Author: Wang Limin, Huang Wushuang
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 center's establishment. Recently, there have been many new developments in China's intellectual property judicial sphere. Here are three examples.
First, China is preparing to introduce new judicial interpretations on intellectual property adjudication. To address some prominent issues in China's intellectual property adjudication, the Supreme People's Court has drafted a judicial interpretation covering anti-unfair competition, plant variety infringement, conflicts of intellectual property rights, and music television, and has been soliciting public comments since November 18, 2005. This interpretation will fill some gaps in China's intellectual property legislation and strengthen judicial protection for intellectual property.
Second, China's intellectual property judicial protection is performing well. The number of intellectual property cases accepted and adjudicated by Chinese courts has increased significantly. Statistics show that from January to October 2005, Chinese local courts accepted 11,390 first-instance civil intellectual property cases (excluding anti-unfair competition cases), a 27.98% increase compared to 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, a 24.54% increase 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 cases 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 posted online. According to the National Intellectual Property Adjudication Work Conference held in Xiamen, Fujian, in November 2005, higher courts across China will gradually post all intellectual property judgments within their jurisdictions online. Higher courts lacking technical capabilities can send electronic copies 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 progress of China's intellectual property rule of law. However, China's intellectual property rule of law still faces a long way to go and many issues to resolve. The dispute over two "Mengniu" trademark and business names—Mengniu Dairy and Mengniu Liquor—reported by the Legal Daily on November 21, 2005, in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, directly relates to intellectual property law.