Tao Kaiyuan, vice president of China’s Supreme People’s Court, called for joint efforts to study and deal with new challenges in the protection of intellectual property rights at the EU-China Judges’ Forum held in Shanghai, March 17 -18.

She said IP cases require effective scientific work mechanisms and teams of professional and far-sighted judges. She added that Chinese courts have gained significant experience by hearing a large number of such cases over the years.

The IP courts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have innovated new systems and procedures to improve the capabilities of judges in those cases, Tao said.

China and the EU’s cooperation in IP rights protection has borne fruit, such as an effective communication mechanism and more judge exchange programs, Tao noted.

Carmen Cano, deputy head of the European Union delegation to China, appreciated China’s emphasis on IP rights protection and the establishment of IP courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These steps have played a unique role in facilitating innovation in China. She referred as well to the achievements brought about by a group of judicial reform measures.

She hoped to boost mutual cooperation and understanding between China and the EU through this forum.

A pioneer of innovation, Shanghai was among the first group of cities to set up an IP court and took the lead in launching IP bureaus in its Pilot Free Trade Zone and Pudong New Area, said Zhao Wen, deputy mayor of the city.

Zhao said the city will spare no effort to develop itself into a hub of IP rights protection in the Asia-Pacific region.

Cui Yadong, president of the Shanghai municipal higher people's court, said exchange and cooperation between courts in Shanghai and EU countries has developed significantly in the recent past. The courts will strengthen the processing of IP cases and judicial protection of IP rights this year and promote the construction of IP courts in Shanghai.

The forum was sponsored by the SPC’s Research Center for Judicial Protection on Intellectual Property Rights, the Chinese Courts International Exchanges Base (Shanghai) for Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and the European Commission, and organized by Tongji University and the EU-China cooperation project on IP rights.

With a theme of “Innovation-driven Economy and IP Judicial Protection”, it attracted more than 100 judges, scholars and experts from China, Germany and Spain.