Since its establishment in 2019, China's top intellectual property (IP) court has provided equal protection for both domestic and foreign companies, settled cross-border disputes, and advanced international IP governance, said Tao Kaiyuan, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, at a press conference Thursday.

From 2019 to 2023, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court received 1,678 cases involving foreign litigants, which accounted for about 10% of all cases, and concluded 1,198 of them, according to Tao. 

On Feb. 22, 2024, the State Council Information Office holds a press conference in Beijing on the national-level adjudication mechanism for intellectual property appeals. [Photo by Liu Jian/China SCIO]

In particular, in administrative cases of authorizing and confirming invention patents, the cases involving foreign litigants accounted for one third, demonstrating the strong appeal of the Chinese market to foreign innovators, Tao said. 

Among the countries and regions involved in cases related to foreign litigants, the EU, the U.S., and Japan ranked among the top three, accounting for 36%, 31%, and 15% of the total received cases respectively, according to data released by the Supreme People's Court. 

Going forward, the court will continue to uphold the principle of equal protection to ensure smooth and sound investment of foreign companies in China. Judicial transparency will be improved, and legal procedures will be more litigant-friendly, Tao said.