AWARENESS CAMPAIGN: Primary school students sign an anti-piracy pledge in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on April 25, 2013 (LIU XIAO)

New special courts for dealing with claims of infringement against intellectual property rights (IPRs) are expected to be set up in China within this year, with the hope of meeting the needs of the country's innovators and supporting the increasing litigation on intellectual property.

Tao Kaiyuan, Vice President of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), China's highest judicial body, announced at a press conference on April 21 that the new courts would be launched after authorities study overseas IPR courts.

On the same occasion, Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of south China's Guangdong Province, added that he hopes the SPC would choose to set up the country's first IPR court in Guangdong, where one quarter of China's IPR disputes happen.

"The most pressing task for Guangdong's industrial transformation is enhancing enterprises' ability to innovate. Legal support is crucial to the protection and encouragement of innovation," Zhu said.

According to a white paper released by the SPC earlier this year, a total of 114,075 IPR-related lawsuits were settled across China in 2013.

"The issue of IPRs mostly stayed below the surface until a few years ago. However, now companies that intend to develop amid stiff global competition—especially Web and technology companies—need protection," said Wang Chuang, Deputy Chief Judge of the IPR Tribunal of the SPC.

The setting up of special courts on IPR has been a hot topic in China's judicial community. Last November, the issue was included in the country's key reform plan adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The document said that efforts will be intensified in order to strengthen China's protection and implementation of IPRs, as well as further encouraging innovation and exploring ways of setting up IPR courts.

In addition to its regular courts, China has already established separate, special courts for maritime- and military-based cases, to much success. According to the current Constitution and the Law on the Organization of People's Courts, special courts are set up in special departments for special cases wherever necessary.

Special courts

The establishment of new IPR courts will be a big move for China's legal system reform, commented Jin Kesheng, another Deputy Chief Judge of the IPR Tribunal of the SPC, adding that some related preparatory studies have already been launched by the Central Government. "The top leadership needs to review the plan carefully to avoid any possible struggles of jurisdiction with the new court system," he said.

Under the present judicial framework of China, IPR-related civil, criminal and administrative lawsuits are heard by tribunals formed specifically for each of these three types of claim.