2013年中國法院知識產權司法保護狀況（雙語）
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Intellectual Property Protection by Chinese Courts in 2013
Introduction
2013 is the initial year which the people’s courts applied the principles of the 18th Party Congress. It is also a critical year to ensure continued efficient and effective implementation of the twelfth Five-Year Plan, and a year which intellectual property adjudication forges new frontiers.
The people’s court have done well under the competent leadership of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, the keen supervision of people’s congresses at all levels and their Standing Committees, and the valuable guidance of the Deng Xiaoping Theory, the “Three Represents” concepts and the scientific development approach.
The courts’ foci were to carry out the essential messages of President Xi’s series of important speeches and the responsibilities as required by the Constitution and the law; and to centre on the goal that “the people perceive equality and justice in every judicial case”, and also on the macro perspective, justice for the people and judicial impartiality.
The people’s courts endeavoured to strengthen comprehensively intellectual property adjudication, implement the national intellectual property strategy and enable intellectual property holders to benefit from the courts being the primary enforcer of intellectual property protection. The courts also deepened judicial reform of the intellectual property system, pressed ahead with greater transparency, better credibility and improved capabilities. All in all, the people’s courts have contributed significantly to a safer China governed by the rule-of-law, enabled China to forge ahead in reinventing itself as an innovative country and a socialist cultural giant, and in advancing towards becoming a complete xiaokang society.
I. Emphasised the priorities of judicial protection and leveraged the role of the courts
The people’s courts based their work on the party and the national priorities, and regarded intellectual property adjudication in earnest and its delivery with enthusiasm. There was profound observance of the basic judicial policy for intellectual property protection, which is “greater protection, classification of cases, appropriate stringency”, and lawful, fair and effective adjudication of different types of intellectual property cases, so that the legitimate rights of intellectual property holders were protected, intellectual property infringements were stopped and sanctioned, and fair competition within the economic order of a socialist market economy preserved. The courts have thus furthered their dominant role as protectors of intellectual property. In 2013, the number of first and second instance intellectual property cases concluded by the local people’s courts totalled 114,075 cases.
(i) Accomplished notable achievements in adjudication of civil cases relating to intellectual property, and enabled effective leveraging of the courts’ role in intellectual property protection and in driving innovation
In 2013, the people’s courts have accurately discerned the new goals and new demands on judicial protection of intellectual property under the comprehensive and deepened reform framework, and have seized opportunities, defined their work agenda and adhered to judicial activism. Civil litigation is increasingly important as a key means in protecting intellectual property and promoting indigenous innovation.
Compared to 2012, the number of first instance civil intellectual property cases accepted and disposed by local courts grew by 1.33% and 5.29% to 88,583 and 88,286 cases respectively. Within each intellectual property branch, the case numbers and percentage change compared to last year were as follows:
Newly accepted cases: 9,195 patent cases, 5.01% lower; 23,272 trademark cases, 17.45% higher; 51,351 copyright cases, 4.64% lower; 949 cases involving technology agreements, 27.21% higher; 1,302 cases involving unfair competition (of which, 72 were first instance civil cases involving monopoly disputes), 15.94% higher; 2,514 cases involved other intellectual property disputes, 13.91% higher.
Disposed cases:1,697first instance cases involving foreign parties, 18.75% higher; 483 first instance cases involving parties from Hong Kong, Taiwan or Macao, 21.21% lower; 69 first instance civil cases involving monopoly disputes, 40.82% higher.
For second instance cases involving civil intellectual property disputes, 11,957 cases were accepted and 11,553 cases disposed, respectively 24.80% and 24.33% higher than last year.
For reopened (zaishen) cases involving civil intellectual property disputes (including carried-over cases), 75 were newly accepted and 96 were concluded cases, which were 56.40% and 56.95% respectively lower than last year.
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC)’s intellectual property division accepted 457 civil cases involving intellectual property disputes and concluded 417 cases, which were 92.82% and 69.51% higher than last year. Of the 365 newly accepted applications for retrial, 341 were disposed.
The people’s courts of all levels have relied upon pre-trial preservation measures to promptly and effectively end infringements, and protect the lawful rights of the parties concerned.
The courts have accepted 11 cases involving application for preliminary injunction relating to intellectual property disputes; 77.78% were granted approvals.173 applications for pre-trial preservation of evidence were accepted, and 97.63% were granted approval, which have reduced the burden of proof on the parties concerned.47 applications for pre-trial preservation of property were accepted, and 96.97% approved.
For example, in the computer software copyright infringement case of Microsoft vs. e-Future Information Technology Inc., where e-Future was alleged to have infringed upon Microsoft’s Microsoft Office series of software, Microsoft had applied for pre-trial preservation of evidence and its application approved. The case was handled by the Wuhan Intermediate People’s Court at Hubei Province. The court approved preservation of the facts of infringement. Subsequently, the respondent accepted the court’s decision and did not continue with the suit.
High profile cases include: Hunan Keliyuan New Energy Co., Ltd vs. Ailantian High Technology Materials (Dalian) Co., Ltd, involving infringement of invention patent; Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food Company Ltd vs. Foshan Gaoming Wei Pole Condiments Limited involving trademark infringement and unfair competition; Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd etc. vs. Beijing Qihoo Technology Ltd, involving unfair competition; Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd etc. vs. Shanghai Audio & Video Publishing House, involving copyright infringement; SI Group Inc. etc. vs. Sino Legend (Zhangjiagang) Chemical Co., Ltd etc., involving trade secrets dispute; Fujian Chaoda Modern Seed Industry Co.,Ltd vs. Rice Research Institute of the Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, involving determination of invalidity claims of a licensing agreement on plant breeders’ rights etc.
