Intellectual Property Protection by Chinese Courts in 2018
IV. Increasing judicial transparency and promoting fair and efficient justice
In 2018, intellectual property adjudication for the People’s Courts implemented the CCP Central Committee’s decisions and plans to deepen reforms comprehensively and to govern according to law comprehensively, and to fulfil the important tasks of promoting open justice and developing an open, dynamic, transparent and convenient sunshine justice mechanism. The courts’ efforts produced positive results.
(1) Intensifying publicity for greater judicial impact
In conjunction with the World Intellectual Property Day’s theme of “Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity” to celebrate the brilliance of the women who are shaping the world’s intellectual property landscape, the Supreme People’s Court organised the “Symposium on Intellectual Property for Women” on 27 April, which aimed to reflect on how women in the intellectual property sector of the new era could transform their intelligence and sense of responsibility into the power of innovation. Discussions at the symposium revolved around Xi Jinping’s thoughts on Chinese socialism for the new era and the tenets of the Party’s 19th Congress, where NPC deputies, representatives from the All China’s Women’s Federation and Women’s Judges Association, women in technological innovation within intellectual property sector, women academics, female journalists and women judges from different courts gathered at the symposium to share insights and their aspirations and missions for their intellectual property careers of the new era. Vice President Tao Kaiyuan gave a key note speech entitled “Inner and Outer Cultivation, with gentle justice and judicial wisdom, give every passion and affection to the great journey of reform and innovation”. An MV of the “Intellectual Property Song” was played at the symposium. Written by Vice President Tao, the lyrics express the voice, mission and noble sentiments of the intellectual property fraternity and are deeply moving.
The Jiangsu courts continued to maintain and operate their WeChat official account, the “Jiangsu Intellectual Property Perspective (‘Jiangsu Zhichan Shiye’)” to increase their influence within and outside the intellectual property adjudication sector. Special columns in professional intellectual property media, such as the Jiangsu High People’s Court’s Sina Weibo and WeChat official accounts were run, publishing regularly information on complex and difficult cases heard and concluded by the different courts within the province for prompt dissemination of the latest news on intellectual property judicial protection and increase the courts’ impact in intellectual property adjudication within and outside the Jiangsu Province. Since establishing the “Jiangsu IP Vision (Jiangsu Zhichan Shiye)” on WeChat, more than 170 typical cases and nearly 10 articles were published in 182 editions, and the results were encouraging.
(2) Elaborating reports presented at the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) (“two conferences”) and live telecast of interviews by all media
During the period of the “two conferences”, to respond to the people’s interest and concern in intellectual property adjudication, the Supreme People’s Court participated in an interview which were telecasted live on all media on 16 March 2018, focusing on the key points noted in the “Supreme People’s Court Work Report”. The invited guests were chief judge Song Xiaoming and deputy chief judges Wang Chuang and Lin Guanghai, who spoke about issues relating to “leveraging the courts as the main channel for protecting intellectual property”. Another invited guest was Justice Song Yushui, Vice President of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, who was interviewed via online video-conferencing.
The interview focused on Chief Justice Zhou Qiang’s work report, revolving around five main points: the People’s Courts leveraging their intellectual property adjudicatory functions to serve and secure the national strategy of innovation-driven development; increasing oversight and guidance and ensuring consistency in law-application; deepening judicial reform of the intellectual property regime to build a more robust system of adjudication; increase judicial transparency and exchange to elevate China’s international influence in the judicial arena; strengthening development of the intellectual property adjudication team to raise their adjudication capabilities and standard. Detailed figures were quoted, and the observations of the guest commenters were enlightening. The comprehensive sharing of the progress of intellectual adjudication during the past five years and the extensive, multi-dimensional and thorough elaboration of what “leveraging the courts as the main channel for protecting intellectual property” indicated in the “Supreme People’s Court Work Report” means was telecasted live by more than 30 media, and generated positive and enthusiastic public response and social effect.
(3) Organising thematic activities for “26 April” World Intellectual Property Day and bringing the publicity campaign to a climax
The Supreme People’s Court has celebrated the “26 April” World Intellectual Property Day since 2009. Its focus has always been on the theme of open justice, as it continues to draw attention to the latest topics and highlights of judicial protection of intellectual property.
This is also an excellent opportunity to review and improve on the means and methods of doing publicity on the judicial protection of intellectual property. During the past nine years, our courts have learned and evolved in the way they organise intellectual property outreach programmes, which are now increasingly systematic and up-scaled, creating an excellent brand effect.
Vice President Tao Kaiyuan shared at the press conference of the 2018 Intellectual Property Outreach Week, the overall results achieved by the People’s Courts in 2017 in terms of intellectual property protection and the highlights of their innovative outcomes. Several publications were also released during this time, including the “Intellectual Property Protection by Chinese Courts in 2016” (Chinese and English versions), “Ten Major Intellectual Property Cases and Fifty Typical Cases Adjudicated by China’s Courts in 2016”, and the “Supreme People’s Court Annual Report of Intellectual Property Cases (2017)”. More than 20 media attended and reported the press conference, and enthusiastic responses and comments generated. The local courts also organised various “26 April” outreach activities based on local circumstances and needs.
(4) Enhancing open justice to ensure impartial justice
The courts have made significant efforts to publish written judgements, where they actively explored new avenues on the mobile internet environment to promote open justice, and have used extensively platforms such as China Judgements Online (wenshu.court.gov.cn), China Judicial Process Information Online (https:// splcgk.court.gov.cn/gzfwww/) and China Court Hearing Online (tingshen.court.gov.cn/) to build an information-based, data-driven and detail-oriented intellectual property open justice system and to increase the transparency of adjudication. Written judgements appropriate for public access are uploaded on the websites promptly and fully, and updates on their online availability announced regularly. Over time, the scope of such public access will increase and the efficiency of providing accessibility will improve. The written judgements of the Supreme People’s Court Intellectual Property Division are 100% available online.
Advancing public access of the hearing process and online case operations is another area of focus. The courts have improved their management of the adjudication process for intellectual property cases and furthered the development of technology courts to promote adoption of contemporaneous audio- and video-recording and live streaming of the hearing process. New and innovative ways of open hearing are created, and the scope of open hearing expanded to ensure that the parties can exercise their right to know and right to supervise. Promoting greater use of smart technology has empowered open justice and improved adjudication and efficiency. The Anhui courts have leveraged the three major open justice platforms to enable online access of written judgements and live streaming of court hearings as much as possible, where appropriate. The Haozhou Intermediate People’s Court have organised open hearings for ten thousand citizens, where people from different sectors were invited to observe the court proceedings when intellectual property cases were heard. For cases suitable for circuit court hearing, the Tongling Intermediate People’s Court would deploy judges to the location of the defendant’s principal establishment, shopping mall or places as such to conduct hearings and face-to-face legal outreach and education.
photo from: 669pic.com
