Courts to better protect IPR

High-level judicial officials in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei agree to collaborate

Courts in North China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will cooperate further to better protect intellectual property rights, thereby helping promote the coordinated development of the region, according to local judicial authorities.

The high people's courts in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province signed a framework agreement on Tuesday.

According to the agreement, courts from the three locations will collaborate on various IPR issues such as improving the quality of IPR trials, joint investigations, resource information sharing and the development of judicial talent.

"The agreed collaboration is of great significance in efforts to form a judicial escort for developing the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region into a pilot and demonstration zone of Chinese modernization," said Lin Guanghai, chief judge of the No 3 Civil Adjudication Tribunal, a division that specializes in handling IP cases with the Supreme People's Court.

The signing ceremony was held in Xiong'an New Area, a new economic area set up in Hebei in 2017 to relieve Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the national capital and to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Given that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region boasts advantages in technological innovation and their distribution of IPR-related industries, the Beijing High People's Court suggested that the courts in the three areas should fully consider the role that intellectual property trials play in stimulating and guaranteeing scientific and technological innovation, according to Ren Xuefeng, deputy head of the court in Beijing.

"We should strengthen the judicial protection of intellectual property rights in core technologies, key areas and emerging industries and jointly create new rules for the judicial protection of the innovations," Ren said.

There are already 27 courts in Hebei with jurisdiction over civil cases involving intellectual property rights, including 14 grassroots courts, he said, adding that last year, the courts concluded more than 14,000 cases concerning intellectual property.

According to Wang, the three areas have cooperated in various ways over the past several years.

In 2019, their high people's courts signed a framework agreement with an aim to build a comprehensive judicial cooperation system, thus better serving the region's coordinated growth and the development of Xiong'an, Wang said.

"We have differences in cases and other aspects, and it is inevitable that we will encounter some differences in cooperation, but as long as we firmly adhere to our agreements, we can travel more steadily on the path to development together," Wang said.