On May 31, China’s Supreme People's Court held a press conference, reported on the trial of cases related to the Internet since 2018. The ten typical cases of the Internet were released during the press conference. Lin Guanghai, Chief Judge of the Civil Adjudication Tribunal No.3 (IPR Division) of the Supreme People's Court, and Liu Zheng, deputy director of the Judicial Reform Office of the Supreme People's Court, attended the press conference and introduced the relevant situation. The spokesperson of the Supreme People's Court Li Guangyu presided over the press conference.

The number of Internet-related cases increase year by year

Lin Guanghai introduced that since 2018, the three Internet courts in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou have took their advantages in centralized jurisdiction, typified cases, and professional trials, and have heard a large number of leading and exemplary Internet cases, and a total of new first-instance and other Internet cases have been accepted. There were more than 210,000 cases and more than 200,000 cases closed.

In addition, other courts have also tried a large number of Internet cases, and the number of cases has increased year by year, involving many complex new legal issues.In addition, other courts have also tried a large number of Internet cases, and the number of cases has increased year by year, involving many complex new legal issues.

The reporter was informed that the ten typical Internet cases announced this time covered a wide range, including common intellectual property infringement cases, unfair competition cases, contract cases, and copyright infringement crimes in the Internet field. They are highly typical and forward-looking. These include the "first case of secretly scalping traffic in the country" tried by the Beijing Internet Court, the "first case of blockchain proof of existence in the country" tried by the Hangzhou Court of the Internet, and the "Internet virtual property protection case" tried by the Guangzhou Court of the Internet.

The People’s Court severely punished dishonest behaviors including click farming, identity theft, and “deal-getting” through case rulings, and formulated judicial policies and case judgments to reasonably determine platform responsibilities and behavior boundaries, and gradually clarified data property rights and scope and infringement identification standards of other new types of intellectual property protection.

The functional positioning of Internet courts ushered in transformation and upgrading

"Internet justice is not a simple superposition of the internet and justice, but through case adjudication, the realization of technological application innovation, rule innovation, litigation model innovation, and governance model innovation." Liu Zheng said.

Liu Zheng introduced that in the next step, in accordance with the central government’s overall positioning of Internet courts, Internet courts will play a greater role in strengthening Internet case trials and promoting cyberspace governance.

Internet courts will accelerate the transformation and upgrading of their functional positioning, and gradually expand and upgrade from mechanism exploration and platform construction to establishing rules and improving systems. At the same time, it actively established and improved adjudication rules in emerging areas of the Internet, further optimized the jurisdiction of cases, and responded to cutting-edge judicial issues. In addition, it will also extend the trial function, promote the transformation of individual judgment rules into legislative norms, policy requirements and industry autonomy rules, and promote the construction of cyberspace autonomy and industry self-regulation governance models.

Strengthen the laws and regulations of monopoly of Internet platform companies and unfair competition

In order to clarify the judgment rules and unify judicial standards, since 2018, China’s Supreme People’s Court has issued multiple judicial interpretations and norms concerning intellectual property rights of the Internet and e-commerce platforms, intellectual property criminal law protection, intellectual property civil litigation evidence, punitive damages, etc. Therefore, the intellectual property rights protection of the Internet, as well as the platform economic regulation has been strengthened.

Regarding the supervision of Internet platform companies, Lin Guanghai said that the People's Courts will resolutely implement the work deployment of the Central Government, strengthen the trial of Internet platform cases, comprehensively understand the laws and characteristics of the Internet platform, and continue to complete the rules for determining monopoly behavior.

In addition, the People's Court will actively participate in the revision of laws, issue judicial interpretations, strengthen the legal system for monopoly and unfair competition of platform enterprises, and further strengthen communication and cooperation with administrative departments to jointly promote the sustainable and healthy development of the Internet platform economy.

1. Chen Li etc. Copyright Infringement Cases [(2019) Hu 03 Xing Chu No. 127, Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court]

2. Hangzhou Huatai Yimei Culture Media Co., Ltd. v. Shenzhen Daotong Technology Development Co., Ltd. for infringement of the right to spread information on the network [(2018) Zhejiang 0192 Min Chu No. 81, Hangzhou Court of the Internet]

3. Migu Digital Media Co., Ltd. and Jinan Zhongjia Intellectual Property Agency Co., Ltd. infringement of the right to disseminate information of works on the Internet [(2018) Lu Min Zhong No. 1607, Shandong Higher People’s Court]

4. Case of Chang Wentao v. Xu Ling and the third party Ma Fenggang on network service contract disputes [(2019) Jing 0491 Min Chu No. 2547, Beijing Internet Court]

5. Yu Binhua v. Guangzhou Hua Network Technology Co. Ltd. Network Service Contract Dispute [(2019) Yue 0192 Min Chu No. 70, Guangzhou Court of the Internet]

6. Commercial defamation dispute between Jiuquan Jiuyanquan Food Co., Ltd. and Jiuquan Hansen Ruida Trading Co., Ltd. [(2019) Gan Min Zhong No. 591, High People’s Court of Gansu]

7. MING HO PUBLICATIONS CORPORATION LIMITED, Perfect World Investment & Holding Group v. Firevale Network Technology Corp., Beijing Kunlun Lexiang Network Technology Co.,Ltd., BEIJING KUNLUN TECH CO.,LTD. infringement of adaptation rights and unfair competition disputes [(2018) Jing Min Zhong No. 226, Beijing Higher People's Court]

8. Tianjin Jiaruibao Metal Products Co., Ltd. v. Xu Guizhen, Deng Yanhui, Zhao Zhenquan, Tianjin Duoweisi Carpet Co., Ltd., Tianjin Ouhaoya Carpet Co., Ltd., and the third party Zhejiang Tmall Network Co., Ltd. (2019) Jin 0116 Min Chu No. 5880, Tianjin Binhai People's Court]

9. Tencent, Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. v. Shutui (Chongqing) Network Technology Co., Ltd., and Tan Wang Unfair Competition Dispute [(2019) Yu 05 Min Chu No. 3618, Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court]

10. Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., Tencent v. Shenzhen Micro Source Software Development Co., Ltd., Weishang (Shenzhen) United Development Co., Ltd., etc. Unfair competition dispute case [(2019) Yue Min Zhong No. 2093, Guangdong Higher People’s Court]