Beijing IP Court releases decade-long judicial work white paper

On November 6, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court held a press conference to unveil its "White Paper on the Judicial Work of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court in the Past Ten Years." The document, available in both Chinese and English, offers a comprehensive overview of the court's developments and accomplishments over the past decade.

The white paper is divided into six sections: an overview of the court and its trial data; typical cases and adjudication rules; protection effectiveness and achievements; judicial reform and mechanism innovation; talent cultivation and team-building; and foreign-related cases and international exchanges. It highlights the significant strides the court has made in intellectual property (IP) judicial protection, reforms, and overall development.

Over the past ten years, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court has handled a total of 201,984 cases and concluded 195,506 cases. These cases cover a wide range of IP areas, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition, and monopolies. Among these, 283 cases received various awards or were included in case collections, and 75 cases were recognized by the Supreme People's Court as exemplary IP cases.

Established on November 6, 2014, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court is China's first specialized IP court. Since its inception, the court has supported the innovation-driven development strategy by enhancing trial mechanisms. It has optimized judicial resource allocation, managing to resolve over 46% of relatively simple cases with just 17% of its resources. Additionally, the court has pioneered full-process electronic reforms, achieving a 91.7% online filing rate, leading Beijing courts in electronic service coverage.

In the realm of international judicial protection, the court upholds the principle of equal protection for both domestic and foreign parties. It has handled 36,201 foreign-related IP cases, accounting for 17.92% of the total. These cases involved parties from over 100 countries and regions across five continents. The court has introduced new mechanisms for serving documents in foreign-related cases, designating the agents of foreign entities in trademark administrative procedures as "business agents" authorized to receive legal documents. This innovation has increased the success rate of single delivery attempts to 94%, reducing the average delivery time from 143 days to 65 days.

The court has also published a bilingual guide for verifying the qualifications of foreign entities participating in litigation, covering 18 major countries. This guide provides clear instructions for foreign parties on preparing and submitting necessary qualification documents.

Looking ahead, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court plans to further align its IP protection efforts with international standards and continue to provide robust judicial protection for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and other new fields.