CHINA will step up judicial protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) to support innovation-driven development, according to a work report of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) yesterday.

    More efforts will be made to enhance the IPR protection of core technologies in key areas and emerging industries, said the report submitted to the ongoing national legislative session for deliberation in Beijing.

    Chinese courts at all levels concluded 466,000 cases related to IPR of first instance in 2020, up 11.7 percent year on year. The compensation for IPR-related offenses last year increased 79.3 percent.

    In 2020, the SPC issued 10 judicial interpretations and normative documents related to IPR to facilitate right holders and increase the compensation for infringements.

    China also improved the punitive damages system for IPR infringements and strengthened the role of the SPC’s tribunal for IPR-related cases.

    China prosecuted 12,000 people for crimes of IPR infringements in 2020, marking a 10.4-percent year-on-year increase, according to a work report of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) on the same day.

    The SPP has established a special organ that integrates criminal, civil and administrative procuratorial functions, creating a professional team to strengthen comprehensive judicial protection of IPR.

    China gives equal protection to the IPR of enterprises from both home and abroad, the SPP said.

    Meanwhile, the SPC said in its report that Chinese courts have livestreamed 11.6 million trials in persistent efforts to enhance judicial openness.

    The country has established and improved its one-stop service mechanism to provide fair, efficient and substantial solutions to nonlitigation disputes, according to the SPC.

    In 2020, 4.24 million civil and commercial disputes were solved before litigation through mediation platforms, a year-on-year spike of 191 percent.

    In 2020, the number of lawsuits handled by courts nationwide declined for the first time since 2004, highlighting the remarkable role played by the dispute resolution system, the SPC said.

    China’s judicial and procuratorial organs have maintained high pressure against corruption, figures unveiled yesterday showed.

    A total of 22,000 cases of embezzlement, bribery and dereliction of duty involving 26,000 people were concluded in 2020, according to the SPC.

    Among the defendants who have been prosecuted were 12 former ministerial-level officials, including Zhao Zhengyong and Lai Xiaomin, it said.

    Chinese courts have been in conjunction with related departments to pursue graft fugitives and recover illegal assets. The illegal assets totaling 1.15 billion yuan (US$177.5 million) from 164 fugitives on the “red-notice” list were confiscated, according to the SPC report.

    The procedure of trial in absentia was adopted for the first time.     

    (Xinhua)