China has attached more importance to intellectual property rights protection in recent years as the country encourages innovation nationwide.

In October 2018, the sixth session of the 13th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted the Decision on Several Issues Concerning Litigation Procedure of Patent and Other Intellectual Property Cases.

On Dec 29, 2018, Luo Dongchuan, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), was appointed as the chief judge of the SPC's Intellectual Property Court, which was launched on Jan 1, 2019.

According to Luo, the court handles cases involving more professional technology knowledge such as patent infringements and monopoly cases nationwide.

Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), praised the establishment of the court and said the court will promote unification of the judgment rules of intellectual property cases.

Luo gave a briefing on intellectual property during a recent interview with Beijing Youth Daily and explained a series of issues about the IP Court and IP case judgments. He said that generally speaking, intellectual property rights belong to intangible property right, including rights for intelligent achievements like patent and copyright as well as rights of commercial trademarks.

Intellectual property rights protection is a fundamental measure to encourage innovation, a core element in international competition, Luo explained. It plays a key role in developing China as a powerful nation in terms of IP as well as science and technology.

IP cases are more complicated and uncertain compared to other cases of property and finance. 

Luo explained that it is difficult to prove acts of IPR infringement and assess the loss due to lack of reliable evidence, which usually leads to higher costs for IPR protection. To solve the problem, courts, legislative organs and rights holders should play joint efforts to exercise their respective functions well. 

For example, legislative bodies should optimize regulations on compensation for IPR infringements and courts should properly allocate the burden of proof and accurately value the loss and decide the compensation. 

He also suggested that right holders should improve their legal capacity to engage in litigation, particularly in proving their claim.

In terms of future judicial work, Luo pointed out that the IP Court will continue to unify judgment rules of IP cases in 2019 and improve trial quality and efficiency to better protect IPR and create a stable and sound innovation environment. 

He mentioned that the court will strengthen informatization work in various ways including optimizing infrastructure construction and advancing judicial transparency. 

For instance, big data, artificial intelligence and remote video systems will play a greater role in case-handling, and systems of information searching, data analysis and risk prediction will also be improved. 

In addition, electronic case records and files and online litigation will be optimized to improve trial efficiency.

Luo also stressed that judicial reform will still be a focus to guarantee high-quality IPR protection and improve Chinese courts' global influence in that area.