According to a recent article by Harry Yang (杨成） at http://npc.people.com.cn/n/2014/0825/c14576-25535722.html, the NPC is discussing establishing specialized IP courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, based on a draft submitted by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC).

The specialized IP courts are proposed to have cross-regional jurisdiction over civil and administrative IP cases related to patents, plant varieties, integrated circuit layout designs,  “technical secrets” (which is not a term in the anti-unfair competition law), and “other” intellectual property rights.   The SPC will enact a rule to divide the jurisdiction for each specialized IP court.

The specialized IP courts will also have jurisdiction over the appeals of first instance copyright and trademark civil verdicts, as well as appeals for administrative decisions made by the local courts where the specialized IP courts are located.

The Beijing IP Court will have jurisdiction over administrative IP cases decided against any administrative decision made by departments of the State Council, thus retaining – if not enhancing – their combined administrative/civil jurisdiction.

Regarding appeals of the first instance verdict made by the specialized IP courts, the local People’s High Courts will have jurisdiction.

The goals of the courts appear to be to strengthen IPR protection,  provide greater uniformity in adjudication (much like the reasons for the CAFC) and to mitigate local protectionism.  The experts took note that amongst the 90,000 IP cases of last year, there were several thousands that were more difficult.  These difficult cases generally involved high technology, and  were also a concern of the international community.   The article also notes that certain jurisdiction issues need to be resolved involving appeals from local courts to the specialized IP courts.

The article does not address outstanding subject matter jurisdiction issues – such as jurisdiction over antimonopoly law cases, or non-technical trade secrets by the specialized IP courts.