Earlier this year, the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court formed a tribunal to deal with all cases involving IPRs, in line with a pilot reform program proposed by the Central Government in 2008.

By the end of last year, such tribunals had been set up in seven provincial-level higher people's courts across the country, as well as in 79 city-level intermediate people's courts and 71 county-level courts, according to figures provided by the SPC.

However, these numbers are far from enough, as IPR disputes have also soared, according to the SPC.

For example, the IPR Tribunal of the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court received more than 3,000 such cases from January to March, a fourfold increase year on year. However, the court only has 83 judges to deal with the ever-increasing claims.

In a recent case, the U.S. technology giant Apple Inc. found itself in the dock at a high-profile lawsuit after a Shanghai-based Chinese company, Zhizhen Network Technology Co., claimed that Apple's Siri product, a digital assistant that responds to voice commands, infringed on its patent for an intelligent robot.

The case is still being heard at the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court, but the first trial in late February attracted hundreds of observers, including media representatives and IT professionals and enthusiasts.

With the rapidly increasing number of IPR disputes in recent years, especially those related to patents, special courts just for these claims are needed, said Jiang Ying, a senior judge with the IPR Tribunal of the court.

"Such courts will make IPR trials more professional and enhance communication among judges," said Jiang, who has been handling IPR suits for more than 20 years.

Some cities in Guangdong, such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Foshan, have applied to set up their own special IPR courts, said Xu Chunjian, Deputy Chief Judge of the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court. Some other economically developed regions including Beijing, Shanghai, as well as Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, are also looking to do the same.

"As an important reform, it needs to be discussed at a national level," Xu said. "As far as I know, there will be some progress soon."

Xu stressed that setting up special IPR courts will bring China in line with other large economies in the protection of IPRs.

"Similar courts were established in Germany and the United States in 1961 and 1982, and have emerged in more countries since the mid-1990s," Xu said.

A white paper released by the SPC in April 2013 revealed that at the end of 2012, China had 2,759 judges overseeing intellectual property trials and that these judges had been selected from a pool of highly educated candidates with extensive experience in handling cases related to IPR.

Qualified judges

An understanding of technology—such as computers, chemistry and medicine—is a necessity, but also a challenge, for IPR judges, according to Jiang.

Jin commented that in 2013, many IPR disputes were extremely complicated, involving foreign entities, new technologies, Internet business models, and globally recognized brands.

The complicated cases included the long-standing iPad trademark dispute between Apple Inc. and Chinese company Proview based in Shenzhen of Guangdong, as well as Chinese tech firm Huawei's lawsuit against InterDigital Communications of the United States over the latter's monopolistic practices. Both cases were heard in Guangdong.

Wang with the IPR Tribunal at the SPC said that it would help if judges could become more knowledgeable about technology. "However, grasping all the knowledge required isn't practical because the time needed would affect the length of a trial," he said.

According to the current Civil Procedure Law of China, judges are allowed to ask experts to explain their technological knowledge during trials. Currently, the higher people's courts in Hubei and Zhejiang provinces have invited some advisers to hear IPR cases. Wang suggests establishing a uniform database of such experts in order to boost trial efficiency and prevent mishandling of technological issues.

Yu Mingyong, Deputy Chief Judge of the Intermediate People's Court in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, believes that the establishment of special IPR courts will help judges be better prepared.

"Hearing an IPR lawsuit is very demanding for a judge," Yu said. "They must be familiar with not only the related laws and judicial procedures but also science and technology."

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