IPR Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court Visits UW Law Top members of the Intellectual Property Rights
But the audience members weren’t the only ones
(IPR) Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC)
learning in the exchange. A large draw for the
of China visited the law school this summer to
justices’ visit was the opportunity to interface with
share and exchange IP research with UW schol-
UW’s top IP researchers, namely CASRIP’s direc-
ars. Hosted by CASRIP, Chief Justice Xiangjun
tor, Toshiko Takenaka. As China’s judiciary faces a
Kong and five of his associates — Judge Rong
huge influx of IP litigation and a backlog of patent
Li, Judge Yan Fang Wang, Judge Xiaobai Yu,
applications at the State Intellectual Property Office
Judge Shengzu Zhang and Judge Li Zhu (pictured
(SIPO), the IPR Tribunal is working on judicial inter-
on page 6) — attended various functions of the
pretations of patent and copyright infringement to
Summer Institute, participated in conferences and
better fulfill the population’s needs. That’s where
collected research during their three-week stay
Takenaka’s research comes in.
for China’s ongoing efforts to support IP creation and protection.
“A lot of the problems we’re encountering have already been encountered by other countries,” Kong
The SPC is the highest appellate court in China, as
explained. “Therefore when we study other countries’
well as the highest supervising body over the trial
cases — how the decision comes down, what the
practices of lesser courts. As such, the SPC divides
trends are — it will be very helpful for our country.”
its case load by delegating them to multiple, thematic tribunals: criminal, civil, administrative. The IPR Tribunal was created in 1996, five years before China became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The nation’s IP law has developed rapidly since then, largely influenced by the signing of additional international treaties. Today, Chief Justice Kong and his associates handle all of the country’s trademark, copyright and patent appeals from high courts. “The number of cases of intellectual property is probably the most in the world,” Kong said. The Chief Justice shared this insider knowledge of the SPC and its judiciary functions in a keynote address at CASRIP’s High Tech Summit, marking both the 20th anniversary of the research center
Chief Justice Xiangjun Kong
uw law
fa l l 2 012
and Kong’s first English-language speech.
55