Supreme People’s Court Annual Report Shows Significant Growths

In the IPR Week in late April, the Supreme People's Court of China released the annual report on IPR protection. In the report, several highlights to note are:

Civil IPR Cases Continued Their Meteoric Growth at an increase of 46% over 2011.

Criminal Cases Showed an Even More Rapid Growth, at an increase of 130% in judicial adjudication.

Provisional Measures are Still under Utilized. Of the nearly 90,000 civil IPR cases, there were only 27 applications for a preliminary injunction, with a grant rate of 83%. Administrative Cases Also on the Rise at an increase of 20% from 2011. 

Foreigners Play a Significant Role in Administrative Litigation on IPR Validity. There was an increase of 8% in 2012 in foreigners using the civil IPR system. Also, foreigners constituted 47% of administrative cases, for a total of 1,349.

Transparency and Commercial Rule of Law Are Improving. The report notes that 47,422 IPR cases had been posted on the Supreme People’s Court case network through year-end 2012. The report also highlights numerous provincial-level local initiatives in improving IPR adjudication.

(Source: China IP News)