China concludes over 475,000 IPR cases in 2019

Chinese courts have concluded 475,853 intellectual property rights (IPR) cases in 2019, up 48.87 percent year on year, a senior justice said Tuesday.

Over the past year, a total of 481,793 IPR cases of various types have been received by courts across the country, 44.16 percent higher than the previous year, Jiang Bixin, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, said at a press conference.

The overall quality of IPR has been improved in 2019, with a number of administrative cases of patent authorization and confirmation with great social influence concluded and malicious applications for trademark registration contained in accordance with the law, Jiang said.

He pointed out that efforts have been made to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the right-holders to the maximum extent.

"For example, the cost of infringement has been further increased by increasing the amount of damages and severely punishing IPR crimes," he added.

In the meantime, proactive measures have been taken to explore the application of law in IPR disputes involving the Internet and new technologies, to provide legal guidance for Internet enterprises to develop new technologies and expand new businesses, Jiang said.

He noted the country has cracked down on malicious litigation and made efforts to standardize IPR litigation procedures to help build an honest business environment.