In order to do a good job in the administrative law enforcement of intellectual property rights during the epidemic prevention and control period, the Shanghai Municipal Intellectual Property Office has taken multiple measures at the same time in accordance with the principle of "risk prevention, safety protection, stability and development" to protect the people's life, health and safety and legitimate rights and interests to the greatest extent.
The first trick: the café mediates to stop the dispute
In November 2021, a special pre-trial mediation was held in the café, only to see that under the guidance of the collegial panel of the case, the two parties negotiated the mediation plan in a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere.
Due to the temporary epidemic prevention and control requirements of the office building where the oral trial court is located, the parties on both sides cannot enter the oral trial court to participate in the oral trial of the case. Based on the case background, the demands of both parties and the focus of the dispute before the trial, the collegial panel organizes the parties to carry out prior mediation of administrative rulings on patent infringement disputes in a café near the oral trial court. The parties reached an agreement on the facts of the product acts and the determination of infringement, and signed an administrative mediation agreement on the spot. The party concerned sighed: "In the special period of epidemic prevention and control, the Shanghai Municipal Intellectual Property Office has opened up new ideas and created a relaxed atmosphere for us to reach mediation. With an accurate grasp of the facts of the case and the legal provisions, the teachers of the collegial group helped us to satisfactorily resolve the dispute within one month after the occurrence of the dispute, and let us feel the 'Speed of Shanghai'."
The second trick is to remotely investigate and try cases quickly
In December 2021, when hearing an administrative ruling case on a design patent infringement dispute, our office found that the parties to the case may have entrusted a company in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, to manufacture and produce the products involved in the case, and it was necessary to further clarify the facts related to the infringement of the case. In order to minimize the flow of people and prevent the spread of the epidemic, the collegial group requested the Suzhou Municipal Intellectual Property Office to assist in carrying out remote video investigations. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the remote investigation, the Suzhou Municipal Intellectual Property Office sent experienced law enforcement personnel to connect with the collegial team to discuss the focus of the dispute over the determination of infringement and sort out and produce an outline for the investigation. Our office, together with the Suzhou Municipal Intellectual Property Office and the Taicang Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, carried out online and offline joint investigations, which is an innovative measure to deal with the new requirements of law enforcement under the epidemic situation, and also gives full play to the advantages of cross-regional joint law enforcement in the Yangtze River Delta, so that the administrative organs can clarify the relevant facts of the case and accurately make infringement determinations.
The epidemic is the order, and prevention and control is the responsibility. The Shanghai Municipal Intellectual Property Office strictly follows the arrangements of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, reasonably balances the contradiction between epidemic prevention and control and the efficiency of case trial, actively innovates the methods of intellectual property administrative law enforcement, protects the life safety and legitimate rights and interests of the people, and works with the parties to build a solid fortress for the prevention and control of the "epidemic" to ensure that the epidemic prevention and control and the administrative law enforcement of intellectual property rights are grasped at the same time.
Contributed by: Xu Fei, Intellectual Property Protection Division
Edit: Zhai Ze
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