Expert advice helps boost IP dispute settlement rate

Officials at Beijijng Intellectual Property Court have ascribed a recent rapid increase in case settlements to a cohort of newly-hired technicians and their expert knowledge and advice.

The court, established two years ago as part of judicial reforms forwarded by the central leadership in 2013, set up a technical investigation office in October 2015, in a move to ensure its case hearings were more professional, according to Yi Jun, the office head.

"A large number of IP disputes, including those related to patents and computer software, are too technical for most laymen to understand," he said.

"That is why we needed specialists to help explain the technology and ensure the accuracy of our verdicts."

According to the court’s statistics, technicians were involved in investigating 250 IP cases last year, and provided their professional advice in 110 reports.

"Thanks to their advice, our case settlement rate has risen 87 percent year-on-year," said Yi.

The court now has a total of 39 technicians, 34 of whom are part-time employees from universities and technology or science institutes, according to a statement from the court.