WIPO China: Shanghai’s Pudong Promotes Wider Use of WIPO’s ADR Services to Better Support Businesses Expanding Overseas

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service, registered in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in October 2019, is the first international arbitral institution approved by the Ministry of Justice of China to provide arbitration and mediation services for foreign-related intellectual property (IP) disputes in China. Since its establishment, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service has received strong support for its work from Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. Pudong has recently introduced policies to support businesses in resolving foreign-related IP disputes through arbitration and mediation administered by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service, providing better support for businesses expanding overseas.

Mr. Wu Jincheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Pudong New Area Committee and Head of Pudong New Area, recently visited the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service to learn about its work. He thanked the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service for contributing its expertise and serving as a bridge for cooperation in support of Pudong’s development as a core area for Shanghai’s “Five Centers” initiative. He said that Pudong would strengthen cooperation and coordination with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service to provide better, more specialized and more efficient mediation and arbitration services for new technologies, industries, business formats and business models. He also expressed the hope that the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service would contribute its expertise to Pudong’s industrial development, businesses’ expansion overseas, innovation in the IP field and the cultivation of high-level talent.

Mr. Lyu Guoqiang, Head of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service, described Pudong as a leader and pioneer in IP reform in China, with significant achievements in the field. He expressed the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service’s willingness to strengthen cooperation with Pudong, supporting its efforts to build a modern industrial system underpinned by leading sectors and core technology industry clusters, and providing professional, readily accessible IP mediation and arbitration services for Pudong businesses expanding overseas.

Background

Pudong pioneered a “four-in-one” system in China that integrates the administration and administrative enforcement of patents, trademarks, copyright and geographical indications within a standalone institutional structure. It has introduced and implemented the first Pudong New Area regulation on IP, actively explored innovative practices in the IP field, and continued to develop as a leading center for IP protection. Many of the approaches developed in Pudong have been replicated and promoted across China.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the number of high-value invention patents held per 10,000 people in Pudong reached 108, an increase of 95 per cent, and the number of invention patents granted doubled. Pudong received nine gold awards and five silver awards under the China Patent Awards, jointly presented by WIPO and the China National Intellectual Property Administration. International patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) exceeded 3,000. Pudong has also hosted training on WIPO’s global IP services for more than ten consecutive years.

In 1994, the Pudong New Area People’s Court became the first primary-level court in China to establish an IP tribunal. In 1996, it pioneered a “three-in-one” system for the adjudication of civil, administrative and criminal IP cases. The court has adjudicated numerous foreign-related IP cases of significant importance. Many of its cases have been selected for inclusion in WIPO’s Collection of Leading Judgments on IP Rights, the Gazette of the Supreme People’s Court and the People’s Court Case Database, among other publications and resources. The court has received the China Copyright Gold Award, jointly established by WIPO and the National Copyright Administration of China.

The Pudong New Area People’s Court was the first court to refer foreign-related IP cases to the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service for mediation and the first to develop procedures for coordinating litigation with mediation administered by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service. It has also referred the largest number of cases, accounting for 30 per cent of all court referrals to the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service. It has referred 69 mediation cases, of which 66 have been concluded, with a settlement rate of approximately 39 per cent. The cases concern trademarks, copyright and unfair competition, among other matters, and involve parties from 15 countries, including China, the United States of America, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and France.