SPC IP Court Briefs on National IP Appeal Hearing Status in its Five-Year Operation

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Intellectual Property Court (IP Court) of the Supreme People's Court of China (SPC). During a press conference on 22 February 2024, Ms. Tao Kaiyuan, justice and vice president of the SPC, gave an overview of the IP Court's first five years' operation as the national-level appeal hearing court for IP cases.

As reported, the IP Court, from its inception on 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2023, accepted a total of 18,924 cases and concluded 15,710 cases. Of the concluded cases, 1,198 were foreign-related. Notably, an increasing number of IP infringement cases were imposed heavy penalties by the IP Court, and in 2023 alone, punitive damages applied to 8 cases heard by the IP Court. In trade secret infringement disputes such as "Melamine", "Vanillin", "Rubber aging inhibitor", and "Diesel engine" cases, the right-holders were all awarded damages exceeding RMB100 million.

Additionally, on the occasion of its fifth anniversary, the IP Court has selected cases of significant reference value from the 15,710 IP cases it concluded, and published the Ten Most Influential Cases of the IP Court and 100 Typical Cases of the IP Court. 

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