New IP rules set to advance opening-up

China's continuous efforts in handling foreign-related intellectual property disputes will serve as a robust backbone for domestic enterprises going global and constitute an important guarantee to advance the country's high-level opening-up, experts said.

They made the remarks after the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Wednesday unveiled an 18-article regulation on resolving IP disputes related to foreign matters. The regulation will take effect on May 1.

"This is China's first administrative document that systematically standardizes the handling of foreign-related IP disputes, which is of great guiding significance," said Liu Bin, an IP lawyer at Beijing Zhong Wen Law Firm.

He praised the regulation for strengthening overseas IP information inquiry and warning services, and said that disputes should be resolved through various channels such as mediation and arbitration.

Liu also welcomed the provisions that encourage law firms to improve the efficiency of IP services and support the establishment of overseas IP dispute funds by domestic enterprises, adding that "these measures will help our innovators reduce the cost of cross-border IP rights protection".

Wang Zhenkun, a partner of Shanghai YaoWang Law Offices, said the new regulation "will accelerate the layout of Chinese IP legal service institutions around the world, thereby helping domestic enterprises connect with international rules more effectively and enhancing China's say in global IP governance".

He noted that the regulation will also be conducive to safeguarding national security and development interests, because it states that if foreign countries use IP disputes as a pretext to constrain or suppress China, or impose discriminatory and restrictive measures on Chinese citizens or organizations, central government departments can take countermeasures.

"Foreign-related IP services are one of the core businesses of our law firm," Wang said. "We not only have a deep understanding of the technical background and commercial demands of domestic enterprises, but can also draw on the resources of overseas cooperation platforms to avoid strategic mistakes caused by cultural or judicial differences."

"We have helped Chinese technology and manufacturing enterprises collect evidence in patent and trademark disputes in Europe, providing them with litigation strategies," he said.

"We have also cooperated with our overseas partners to keep track of local IP laws in real time, in order to proactively adjust IP application plans and reduce potential dispute risks for domestic companies expanding abroad," he added.

The law firm at which Liu is an IP lawyer has also established long-term and stable cooperation with foreign legal service institutions in various countries and regions, such as Germany, France and Switzerland.

"We formulate compliance plans for domestic enterprises in fields such as technology exports and cross-border data transfer, with legal services provided. In this way, they can avoid infringing on the IP rights of foreign entities and reduce the losses they may suffer from overseas IP disputes," Liu said.

Both Liu and Wang suggested that China should step up work on IP talent education, and pledged to work with the authorities in providing legal training for and introducing IP laws to enterprises going global by sharing experiences and practices through case studies.