China's second IPR court opens in Guangzhou

GUANGZHOU - China's second intellectual property rights (IPR) court opened in the southern city of Guangzhou on Tuesday.

The court will hear civil and administrative lawsuits regarding patents, new plant varieties and technological knowledge.

It will hear IPR cases from all over Guangdong Province except for Shenzhen City, so the whole province will follow the same standard, said Xu Chunjian, deputy head of the provincial higher people's court.

IPR cases in Guangdong accounted for 29.68 percent of the country's total in 2013, an increase from 20.55 percent in 2009, said Xu.

"It is imperative that an IPR court be established in the province," he added.

The court has selected 10 of its 30 judges, each having handled on average at least 600 IPR cases.

"The selection process was fair and transparent. I feel proud of being chosen," said Gong Qitian.

In addition, it is China's first court to treat all judges as equal, said Zhou Ling, an official with the provincial higher people's court.

The Supreme People's Court proposal, which was approved in August by China's top legislature, advised that three special courts for IPR cases be set up.

The first IPR court was set up in Beijing in early November. It has accepted 221 cases in one month alone and heard its first case on Tuesday. About 63 percent of the cases are administrative lawsuits regarding brands.

A similar court in Shanghai is slated to be opened by the end of this year.

Chinese courts hear about 110,000 IPR cases annually and this is expected to increase.