A meeting on the protection of new varieties of plants was held by the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MOA) on Feb 28. Zhou Xiang, deputy chief judge of the Intellectual Property Court and Zhou Yunlong, deputy director of MOA's Bureau of Seed Management, attended the meeting.

The delegation from MOA, led by Zhou Yunlong, is the first group from central ministries and commissions to visit the court since its founding. Zhou Yunlong congratulated the establishment of the court. He said that the founding of the court would offer stronger and more efficient judicial protection for new varieties of plants. He also introduced general information about Chinaour country’s protection of new varieties of plants as well as existing problems.

Zhou Xiang gave a brief introduction to the background, responsibilities and development plan of the court. Both sides discussed data sharing in administrative enforcement and judicial protection, legal issues regarding right of new varieties of plants, and so on.

After the meeting, the delegation members visited the litigation service center and the courtrooms, where they experienced the intelligent electronic equipment such as the case inquiry terminal and watched a promotional video of the court.

Also present at the meeting were judges and judge assistants from the Intellectual Property Court's third collegiate bench.

Zhu Qian contributed to this story.

[Photo by Xu Hao/enipc.court.gov.cn]