Develop a “1+76” model for technology-related IP case trials and establish an integrated coordination mechanism. There are 32 High People’s Courts and 44 Intermediate People’s Courts in China that have jurisdiction over technology-related IP cases of first instance. A preliminary “1 + 76” model for technology-related IP case trials with the IP Court as the appellate body has been developed to ensure overall planning and nationwide concerted efforts, and to gradually exert the advantages and overall effectiveness of an integrated coordination mechanism. Over the past year, the IP Court has utilized the integrated coordination mechanism to expand dispute resolution channels and mediate 80 patent infringement cases across regions, and has achieved satisfactory results by “closing cases before the court session begins and resolving disputes before the relevant parties depart.” For example, in the invention patent infringement case of Tong Yonghua and Ningbo Zhaohua Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. (Appellants) v. Yuyao Pude Water Equipment Factory, et al. (Respondents), the IP Court found out that the parties involved had other outstanding cases in different regions and courts with respect to the same patent and other relevant patents; the IP Court then contacted Hangzhou IP Tribunal and Ningbo IP Tribunal. These three courts at three regions and two levels coordinated, cooperated, and jointly participated in the mediation and settled eight cases with one package solution. In the invention patent infringement case of Jiangsu Baodiao Motor Vehicle Co., Ltd. (Appellant) v. Chongqing Yingang Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. et al. (Respondents), with the support of the High People’s Courts in Jiangsu, Sichuan, Chongqing, etc., the IP Court achieved a resolution of 7 cases of first-instance, second-instance and retrial, across regions and procedures.
Implement a nationwide circuit trial system. Insisting on putting the people at the center, supported by the 6 Circuit Courts of the Supreme People’s Court and the local courts, the IP Court has explored the circuit trial model of “the IP Court + Circuit Courts”, established a case trial mechanism of “Investigation + Court Hearing”, and arranged circuit trials of the case at the place where the dispute occurred or where the People’s Court of first instance is located, so as to facilitate litigation and promote prompt and on-spot resolution of disputes. Over the past year, the IP Court visited Nanjing, Shenzhen, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Golmud, and other places to conduct onsite investigations on submersible pumps, large screen printing machines, and other large mechanical equipment that are difficult to transport. A total of 23 cases’ onsite investigations and circuit trials were completed, which facilitated the litigation by the public and enriched the intellectual property protection practice of “Fengqiao Experience”. For example, in the case of infringement of utility model patent rights of Dongguan City Topfly Packaging and Printing Co., Ltd. (Appellant) v. Haoda Screen Printing Machinery (Respondent), and Zhuhai Hongsen Circuit Board Co., Ltd. (defendant in the first instance), since it was inconvenient to transport the alleged infringer’s large screen printing machine, and as the alleged infringer had appealed that the court of first instance did not separately compare the 50 technical features included in the patent claim 1 involved, the collegial panel decided to visit the factory in Zhuhai to compare the suspected infringements. The case was heard in public at the First Circuit Court of the Supreme People’s Court in Shenzhen. Finally, the Appellant’s appeal was supported on the basis of ascertained technical facts.
Improve the technical fact finding mechanism. First, the IP Court has led the preparation of the “Database of Technical Investigators and Technical Consulting Experts for Chinese Courts,” bringing together more than 360 technical investigators and technical consulting experts from all over the country, covering more than 30 technical fields. These include technical investigators employed by the People’s Courts, as well as technical investigators and technical consulting experts from China National Intellectual Property Administration, scientific and technological enterprises, universities, research institutes working as exchange personnel, part-timers, volunteers, etc., which has helped effectively solve the problems of single source, unbalanced distribution in fields, and insufficient talent supply. Second, the IP Court has established a “Technical Investigation Resource Sharing Mechanism for Chinese Courts,” adopted the Several Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Technical Investigators’ Participation in Legal Proceedings of Intellectual Property Cases, and has promoted the on-demand deployment of technical investigators nationwide or dispatching of technical consulting experts based on the Several Provisions. The sharing mechanism and the database work together to enable technical investigation talents to be dispatched on demand throughout China based on unified deployment, maximizing the effectiveness of existing resources. In July 2019, the IP Court deployed a technical investigator in the mechanical field, at the request of the Intermediate People’s Court of Yinchuan of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, to participate in the trial of a patent infringement case of a “no-tillage double-furrow all-plastic-film mulching and earthing combined machine”. In November 2019, the IP Court, at the request of the Tianjin IP Tribunal, took into account the overall situation with respect to the region, field, personnel, etc., and deployed a technical investigator in the field of biomedicine from the Beijing Intellectual Property Court through the “Database of Technical Investigators and Technical Consulting Experts for Chinese Courts”, to participate in the patent infringement case trial for “1L1RL-1 as a cardiovascular disease marker and therapeutic target”. In December 2019, Nanjing IP Tribunal proactively arranged its technical investigator in the computer software field to facilitate the IP Court in handling of a computer software copyright infringement case, in which the complicated source-code-related facts were correctly ascertained, and hence the parties settled their dispute through mediation in a sound way on the basis of the newly ascertained technical facts. Third, to solve the practical problems that exist, such as the difference in work and knowledge cognition habits of technical investigators, inconsistency in litigation details, and other issues, the IP Court took the lead in organizing three Intellectual Property Courts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and the IP Tribunals in Tianjin, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Suzhou, and other places, to jointly compile and publish the Work Manual of Technical Investigators (2019). The manual provides work guidelines and standards for technical investigators of Chinese courts, with respect to ascertaining technical facts.
2. Strengthen informatization development and promote intelligent case handling
