The Beijing Intellectual Property Court (Chinese: 北京知识产权法院; pinyin: Běijīng zhīshì chǎnquán fǎyuàn) is a Court of special jurisdiction in the People's Republic of China, which handles: "first-instance IP civil or administrative cases with professional features involving patents, new varieties of plants, layout design of integrated circuit, know-how and so on." There are similar courts based in Shanghai and Guangzhou.[2]
Appeals from the Beijing IP Court are to the Supreme People's Court.[5] Beginning in 2019, those appeals go to a specialized IP tribunal within the Supreme People's Court, which is the exclusive appellate venue in China for technology-related IP lawsuits.[6]
China has a civil law system. This means that laws can only be created by the legislature not the courts. Hence, there is no case law in China. However, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court has been trialing a "Case Guidance System" (案例指导制度 ànlì zhǐdǎo zhìdù).[8] While not legally binding, these cases can be considered a type of persuasive precedent. Such cases are used in the following manner:
...For each disputed focus of the case, no more than three cases are submitted; the case should be accompanied by a summary indicating the source of the case, its effective status, and the case in question. Comparison of key facts and similarities, referee rules or methods and standards contained in the case, the referee rules or methods and standards for the inspiration and guidance of the case under trial and its specific reasons. The case summary generally does not exceed 800 words, and the case and its abstracts, reference opinions, etc. can be submitted as an attachment to the complaint and the reply.[8]
Notable cases
Sogou v. Baidu (2015) Jing Zhi Min Chu No.’s 01731, 01732 and 01943: This is the first case in China where the court issued a partial judgement and also the first case to involve software patent infringement.[9][10][11][12]
Silvain v. Ye (2021): Chinese artist Ye Yongqing was accused of plagiarism by Belgian artist Christian Silvain. A verdict delivered on 24 August 2023 awarded €650,000 ($696,000) in damages to Silvain, the highest amount so far for cases related to fine arts in China.[14]
^"New IP Appellate Tribunal in China". Patent- und Rechtanwaltskanzlei of Meyer-Dulheuer MD Legal Patentanwälte PartG mbB. 29 January 2019. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020.