On December 6, the QBPC and the Third Branch of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate jointly organized a roundtable on the Path of Criminal IP Protection, which was attended by nearly 100 participants including officials from the Shanghai People's Procuratorate, the Shanghai High People's Court, the Food, Drug, and Environment Crime Investigation Department of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau (Shanghai FDECID), the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, and other relevant departments, as well as representatives from QBPC member companies. Peter Yang, QBPC Best Practices/Enforcement Committee Chair, served as the moderator.
Peter Yang
Wei HE, Secretary of the Party Group and Procurator General of the Third Branch of the Shanghai People’s Procuratorate, and QBPC Chair Michael Ding, delivered opening speeches. Wei He pointed out that the discussion aimed at enhancing criminal judicial IP protection and collaboratively exploring pressing issues at the forefront of IP development. He proposed three key initiatives: first, to establish a first-class business environment with a higher standard; second, to strengthen judicial protection synergy; and third, to fulfill the responsibility of comprehensive performance on IP prosecution through more practical measures. Michael reviewed the history of cooperation between the QBPC and the Shanghai procuratorate, highlighting the results achieved. He expected that both parties would continue their professional and open exchanges to further optimize China's IP business environment.
He WEI Michael Ding
There were three panel discussions, including “The Challenges, Pain Points, and New Trends in Criminal Protection of Intellectual Property”, “Criminal Judicial Protection of Trade Secrets”, and “People's Procuratorate’s Comprehensive Performance of Intellectual Property”.
Panel 1 was hosted by Yi WANG, Vice Chair of the QBPC Best Practices/Enforcement Committee. Yingqing ZHU, Prosecutor of the Third Procuratorate Department of the Shanghai Yangpu District People’s Procuratorate, addressed several key issues, including the determination of identical goods, evidence collection related to sales on e-commerce platforms, and the application of injunctions. She effectively illustrated practical experiences through case study. Ye HUANG, IP Counsel at Philips, provided an in-depth analysis of the challenges he faced in his work while proposing a solution regarding the determination of identical goods. Jie LING, Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Protection Division at the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, shared recent policy updates from the IP administrative department and introduced innovative approaches for case handling, particularly in relation to the convergence of administrative measures and criminal prosecution. Yangchen Gao, Deputy Captain of the Food, Drug, and Environment Crime Investigation Brigade within the Economic Investigation Detachment of the Putuo Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, discussed emerging trends and challenges in criminal case handling, presenting a response strategy towards new types of cases based on several actual cases.
Panel 1
Panel 2 was chaired by Alvin Deng, Vice Chair of the QBPC Patent and Innovation Committee. Huizhong WANG, Deputy Captain of the Intellectual Property Crime Investigation Brigade at the Shanghai FDECID, provided an analysis of the status quo of trade secret protection as well as offering valuable recommendations for right holders seeking to safeguard their trade secrets. Xinxin WANG, Senior Prosecutor of Third Rank at the Sixth Procuratorate Department of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate, not only examined the key characteristics of trade secret crime cases but also shared insights and best practices from prosecutors in handling these cases, which proved to be highly inspiring for member companies. Tim Jiang, Electric & Automation IWG Coordinator, presented the perspectives of rights holders in case management and discussed innovative approaches in software infringement cases through a specific case from his company. Jason Yao, representing the U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group, offered a number of suggestions to address the challenges in handling trade secret cases.
Panel 2
Panel 3 was hosted by Chuan LU, Deputy Director of the Twelfth Prosecution Department at the Shanghai People's Procuratorate. Jing WU, Director of the Procuratorial Office of Intellectual Property in the Seventh Prosecution Department, Shanghai Jing’an People's Procuratorate, summarized the replicable practical experiences and performance paradigms developed during the comprehensive handling of intellectual property prosecution, which addressed the challenges in civil, administrative, and public interest litigation. Lingyan WEN, Deputy Director of the Law Enforcement and Inspection Division at the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation, provided a detailed overview of the effectiveness of Shanghai's organizational strategies, task deployment, capacity building, and collaboration between government and enterprises in IP enforcement. She also highlighted existing challenges and difficulties while presenting a forward-looking perspective aimed at optimizing the innovation and business environment and enhancing IP protection throughout the entire process. Michael Yu, Chair of the QBPC Legal Committee, discussed the impact of admissibility disputes and jurisdictional issues on actual criminal penalties related to civil suit collateral to criminal proceedings. He noted the advantages of a short cycle of rights defense, high enforcement efficiency, and low litigation costs. Additionally, he analyzed the challenges associated with reverse and positive articulation in the two-way relationship between administrative enforcement and criminal prosecution, offering suggestions such as clarifying implementation measures and leveraging the role of rights holders. Jun XU, Deputy Chief Judge of the Intellectual Property Trial Division at the Shanghai High People’s Court, elaborated on the issues of territorial and hierarchical jurisdiction encountered within the IP “three-in-one” trial mechanism. He pointed out the consequences of jurisdictional misalignment while proposing for integrating case jurisdictions.
Panel 3
In the Q&A session, participants raised questions about various challenging issues. The relevant prosecutors and judges responded patiently and engaged in active communication, demonstrating an open and honest attitude that received high praise from the participants.
In his concluding remarks, Michael once again expressed gratitude to the speakers for sharing their latest experiences and insights from various perspectives. He emphasized that open and inclusive discussions would allow everyone to collaborate in exploring innovative methods to safeguard innovations and brands. Michael also looked forward to continuous dialogues between the QBPC member companies and the law enforcement as well as judicial departments of Shanghai, with the aim of promoting the development of Shanghai's innovation hub.
丁宇